Category: Music

Further Reading: birth in the death

Music

From their fourth studio album GEMINI, the song birth in the death is performed not only during ALICE NINE. concerts with Show on vocals, but frequently features on THE ALTERNATIVE’s setlists as well, with Saga doing the vocals (if you are subscribed to their note, Nao posted footage of one of THE ALTERNATIVE’s performances of the song here). For their 15th anniversary concert in 2019 they played a beautiful rendition that resonated through the atmosphere of the outdoor venue. During their 17th anniversary concert in 2021, ALICE NINE. played all of the songs from the album GEMINI (including a really emotional, uplifting rendition of birth in the death); in anticipation of that concert, they also put up a video on their official note with all 5 of them reminiscing about the making of the album.

You can find a translation of the song’s lyrics here.

It’s always best to get a feel for the creative process from the artists themselves. Here are a few excerpts from magazine interviews, mainly featuring composer Saga and lyricist Show (though everyone had plenty to say about it for SHOXX), discussing the song and how it fits into the album’s overall concept.

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Gekkayo 2011.03
(Photography: 徳間)
Show: Personally… I find that the characteristics of the first track I. and the last one, birth in the death, are largely different, and that’s a point I was very conscious of.
Saga: If I were to expand on that in a simple way, the former and latter halves of the album are frankly different bands. I would think that a band that were to play the songs in the former half wouldn’t play those in the latter half. In that fact, you can really feel the dual nature of the album. It’s not simply a difference in nature between pop and rock. We’re doing two things together that wouldn’t be done together.


Neo Genesis vol 52
(Photography: Susumu Miyawaki / Text: Hiroko Yamamoto)
Saga: birth in the death has for me what is the closest to being a personal section I would say, and is a very profound one. I think it’s perhaps the same in terms of the lyrics.
Show: It is. Actually, among the members, this is the song that garnered the most voices saying “I want to do this”.


B-PASS 2011.03
(Photography: Takashi Hirano / Text: Yuichi Masuda)
Show: As you’d expect, we’re human, so we want it to be understood, this core aspect of ourselves. In order to have that understood, we intend to have put in our maximum effort. I think, if you looked forward to getting in touch with that nucleus of us as a band as a listener without forcing it, that would be enough. Because if we do things the right way, we’ll say everything we need to with this one album.


Fool’s Mate 2011.03 vol. 353
(Text: Yuka Sugie)
Saga: In birth in the death, Shou-kun takes up guitar for the first time.
Hiroto: Saga-kun is also on guitar in this one, so there are 4 of us on stage in front, all of us holding guitars.


What’s In 2011.02
(Text: 杉江由紀)
Show: The first song I., fourth song 4U, and thirteenth song birth in the death feel like they are primordially connected in some way. This time the songs that we’ve come to include were really deep and so I think there are a lot of words in the lyrics that came up as a result of a profound part of me feeling an impetus from the music. birth in the death, a song that allows you to see love and hope while facing sadness, is actually also one that has I. on loop during a part of it.


SHOXX vol 217
(Photography: SUSUMU MIYAWAKI / Text: NAOKO TAKEICHI)
Saga: For a couple minutes from the start of the song, Nao-san, well, we don’t need him (laughs). I’m wondering what he’s gonna do during lives (laughs).
Hiroto: In the middle of the song, he could even suddenly appear on stage, and start drumming naturally. I think that would be totally cool.
Nao: A great idea. I think it’d be extremely cool. Let’s go with that!
Tora: This song is unexpectedly hard. In terms of the guitar, it’s not that you’re doing anything all that complicated, it’s hard because the monotone phrase you’re playing is in a loop. It’s not a song where you’re all high energy and putting in a lot of effort. You play the same arpeggio over and over, and in the middle of that, it’s like, you ask yourself where you are in the phrase you’re playing and end up not knowing.
Hiroto: Exactly. But personally, out of all the many album songs we’ve had, from the demo stage, this is the song for which I most felt, “I absolutely want to do it!”. It suits the frequency of my body. A song that requires physique, you might say.
Saga: Also, for this song, there’s a shocking fact! Surprisingly, I wasn’t playing bass in it. This song’s bass was programmed. It’s not that I planned to do that; I recorded the bass live at the outset, but as a result I figured I didn’t need the live take, and I ended up trying to see if I could program it in. So… I wonder what I’ll do in our concerts.
Show: When we’re doing this song in concert, what do you think of Saga-kun and Nao-san appearing in a live film for us?
Hiroto: Great idea. During the performance of the song, would we be able to get the two of them to play the roles of “life and death” for us? (laughs)
Show: The lyrics are on the darker side. They’re of a subject I can’t speak on forthrightly. GEMINI-0 to GEMINI-II are the same, but if I were to speak deeply on all these songs, even a personal interview wouldn’t end up being long enough. It’s like, the self objectively watching human lives twinkling and disappearing like shooting stars. They’re the lyrics that concentrate most on what I’ve always been singing about. Listening to this album’s songs live as well as through the studio recordings lends different impressions so I’m very eager to play these in concert.
Saga: Right now, for us personally as well, these moments of coming to get to know our new selves are really enjoyable, so of course with this album, I think I’d like you all to put your hopes in what’s next for Alice Nine.


CD & DL Data 2011.02
(Photography: 草刈雅之 / Text: 赤木まみ)
Show: This is a song in which shooting stars light up and disappear in the night sky that you’re gazing up at, and that is the scenery you watch while shedding tears over the ephemeral nature of human lives… that’s the gist of it. It also carries the message that, precisely because human life is so ephemeral, it’s precious. What’s more, the piano sounds in the song are wonderful and… bring you to tears. That’s something that Saga-kun put in during the demo stage, but when I heard those notes, I thought, this man we call Saga is a genius. I absolutely want you to listen to this on repeat, and afterwards, feel the love in it.


ROCK AND READ 2016.04 vol 65
(Photography: 山内洋枝 / Text: 東條祥恵)
Saga: birth in the death. That was the first song I was satisfied with. In the band, I had a feeling of satisfaction that was like, “I made this”. I was way too picky about the details because partway through, I was told by the producer Okano Hajime-san, “Fine, man, do whatever you want!” (laughs). That song is my personal favourite, even now.

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Despite the fact that this song is now over ten years old as of writing this article, and that it has a bit of a cult following among fans, it still manages to cast the listener into an incredibly mysterious atmosphere. The original studio version has a very different feel from the version they play live as a band, as well as from the version Saga and Nao play live as the duo, THE ALTERNATIVE. I wonder what things, specifically, Saga was picky about. Did four of them truly play guitar for the studio version? Because the live versions certainly don’t feature four of them on guitar! Was there something personally significant about the piano notes that caused such a strong emotional reaction in Show upon hearing the original demo? Its lyrics are serenely beautiful, and Show hinted at there being a link between them and those of the GEMINI suite, but also mentioned a link between them and the intrinsically linked I. and 4U. What was the detail that Saga was so stubborn about that caused Okano-san to finally give up on trying to, well, produce the feel of our favourite bassist’s favourite composition?

I love the utter passion (not to say stubbornness) with which Saga approached this song, getting it from demo (I wonder how different the demo sounded!) to its completed version; I love, too, the ways that it has grown through being performed by them all on stage. Show’s lyrics take us to a deep, spiritual place.

There is beauty in the details, Saga; keep that passion for music aflame.

Double-neck

Music

If I’d gone to Bluesfest this year, it would have been to see Crown Lands, Sum 41, and Rage Against The Machine (Sarah McLachlan, Alanis Morissette, and Garbage would have been high on the list too). Not going was a really hard decision, because I know it would have been pure badassery.

Crown Lands at Dragonboat Fest ’18; the guitarist started playing a frickin’ guitar-bass halfway through the set.

Part of the reason I made the decision not to was that I managed to get a ticket with a stellar view to see The Smashing Pumpkins in Toronto this October, and that will require me saving up for and going on a mini-trip. No matter what their setlist is, it’s going to be incredible.

I also plan on eating at least one penis waffle while there (it seems like their vag-shaped waffles are a summer-only special lol). I adore the fact that their shop name (Members Only) and entire menu is replete with filthy puns. Glorious.

It’s looking like that Toronto vacation (and time taken off work here and there to have extra long weekends for writing and web-developing) is going to be my only real getaway this year, because Japan still isn’t open for independent travel (tour groups only, for the foreseeable future). If I can’t go for concerts, then I’ll just be sitting tight for a little longer and exploring areas closer to home.

But I want to go back. I do.

I want to go see ALICE NINE. live again. THE ALTERNATIVE.

I want to feel Saga’s groove firsthand again.

Mother Mother & MONOWHALES at the NAC

Music

After work, I dashed home to give Scout his supper, and found to both my amusement and dismay, that he had ripped apart his second treat bag in less than a month and helped himself to a mid-afternoon snack. I asked him who the culprit was, but he wouldn’t say, just kept rubbing my legs affectionately, clearly very pleased with himself and ready for his evening meal.

View looking down at my feet from above, where a black and white furred cat is looking down at a torn-open package of cat treats.

Alas. That little scallywag. I transferred the remaining treats into another container, gave him his supper, changed into concert-appropriate attire, and then (finally) dashed over to the NAC to see Mother Mother and their opening act MONOWHALES.

I’d never heard anything by MONOWHALES before, and I decided not to listen to anything or look them up in preparation so I could go in to their set without any expectations. Mother Mother, meanwhile, has been one of my favourite bands for a number of years, and I’ve been to every show they’ve played in Ottawa since their performance at Bluesfest in 2013 (…except one, I think).

You could say I was excited.

The NAC’s Southam Hall is a venue that I am intimately familiar with, as I go there often, usually to see classical concerts, so I had no trouble getting there and finding my seat. As I waited, other slowly filing in, the anticipation mounted.

View of a stage lit up in red stage lights.
Close up of my peacock-patterned overcoat, underneath which I am wearing a black v-neck shirt and a pick-shaped silver necklace.

Then–

The auditorium lights were turned off, and MONOWHALES made their stage entrance.

View of the members of band MONOWHALES on stage, lit up in purple and green lights.

They hyped up the hall with some hard-hitting songs and great power vocals, even playing a brand new track for us to celebrate their final stop as the opening act on the tour, and the final Canadian show on the tour. The main phrase I remember from the chorus was caught in the middle. I also remember CTRL^^^ in particular. I really liked what I heard, and how fired up Sally was on vocals, dancing all over the stage, and at one point even leaping down into the main floor seating area and singing her way through the main aisles in an arc until she could leap back up onto the stage again. She led us in a handful of call-and-responses, and also encouraged us turn on our phone flashlights for one of their slower songs, the hall lighting up on all four levels.

I should have taken a photo of that; it was quite pretty to see.

They ended their set by asking us to stand up while they played their crazy-good cover of The Hand That Feeds by NIN. I loved it. We gave them a long, well-deserved round of applause and they left the stage, professing how grateful they were to have been able to join Mother Mother on tour and that, being fans as well, they were just as excited as we all were to see the upcoming performance. And, indeed, they went up to a Mezzanine-level box to join the rest of the crowd in watching the rest of the show.

Fun fact: With Teeth was the first NIN album I ever bought. On a less-fun note, I no longer have that particular CD, as it was one of dozens that I donated or gave away over the course of several moves in the past few years. I regret parting with it a little (I did keep The Downward Spiral), but it is now in the hands of one of my good friends from high school, who I know has been enjoying it. That’s something.

Back to the story at hand.

During the brief interlude in which the crew re-arranged the stage setup for Mother Mother, I took to my phone to work on a translation of the beautiful name by ALICE NINE., one of my favourite Saga compositions off VANDALIZE that takes deep inspiration from U2’s song Where The Streets Have No Name. It’s nowhere near done, but one of the lines of the song has the phrase 音速を越えてcross the speed of sound in it, and when I translated that, the melody for Speed of Sound by Coldplay immediately popped into my head and I queued it in my playlist for after the performance. I hadn’t heard that song in what felt like forever, though when it first came out, I played it on repeat over and over again.

Finally, the lights went out again, the stage, lit dimly, was filled with smoke, and Seven, the ethereal and vaguely eerie opening track from their latest album Inside, began to play.

Mother Mother took to the stage.

View of the members of Mother Mother on stage, lit up in purple lights.

As I mentioned above, I have gone to see Mother Mother many times, but each time I do they sound better than before with all their accumulated experience. And if you’ve never seen them live in concert, I can assure you: they sound really good live. I love their interesting rhythms and the complementary, wide-ranging tones of all of their voices. Their rhythm-heavy, melodic vocal harmonies are extremely cool. But then they also each take the lead in singing certain tracks. The drumming, bass phrases, and guitar work was all really good and right from the get-go Ryan called all of us to get up on our feet for the performance, which I was really glad of. It’s hard to dance in your seat.

But on my feet? Boy, did I ever dance.

Their setlist included tons of staples (like Ghosting, The Stand, and O My Heart), included a few older songs that I wasn’t familiar with (some song-research for the near future!) and a few of their newest songs (like Life and Girl Alone).

View of the members of Mother Mother on stage, lit up in rainbow-coloured lights.

It wasn’t any surprise that they played Hayloft and Hayloft II, considering the fact that Hayloft went viral months ago… which was much-deserved, because that’s been a favourite track of mine for years. The rhythm in it is completely addictive. I don’t think they’d included that one in many of the setlists for the shows I’d been to in the past, so I was genuinely ecstatic to hear those opening notes.

I was also genuinely ecstatic to hear the opening notes for The Drugs, Let’s Fall In Love, and Bit By Bit, two songs during which I danced my little heart out.

When Molly started singing Pure Love, everyone in the hall quietly took out their phones, turned on their lights, and swayed to the sweet melody. I can’t remember whether we turned on our lights for It’s Alright, but that performance utterly moved me. It was so heartfelt and raw, and those lyrics truly capture the experience of having mental illness, of making mistakes that you regret, with honesty, and such humanity.

At the time the song came out (on their Dance and Cry album in late 2018), I was in a complicated situation, in a bad place mentally, and that song really spoke to me. A lot of the songs on that album did.

Mother Mother’s lyrics can have such a down to earth, conversational style, and are written with a raw honesty that doesn’t feel tired or overused; I love their lyrics. Having three people on vocals also provides ample opportunity for a lot of very good harmonies and call-and-response moments.

During Sick of the Silence, the band and the audience all let out cathartic yells.

The silence during the worst of the pandemic was hard to bear, but the stillness was worse. I attended so many concert livestreams, and the music sounded great through my headphones or through the sound system attached to my TV. When you’re watching a livestream, though, you don’t get to feel the sound buzzing and thrumming through the hall; you don’t get to sense the energy of the band and the concert-attendees around you–a palpable, visceral thing.

That’s what I missed most.

It was a really good night, and I’m so glad I went.

On the way home from the venue the air was warm but a strong breeze was sweeping through the streets, so with Coldplay’s Speed of Sound on repeat, I let my long coat trail behind me and floated home on a music high.

New Depths for ALICE NINE.

Music

Today is the day when, 18 years ago, 5 musicians first took the the stage together to play a set as a newly-formed band. Their name?

アリス九號

The period came later, in August, when they made things official — and the rest is a long, storied history. One that is still being written. As both アリス九號. and ALICE NINE.

I’m not exaggerating when I say that my life changed for the better when I started listening to their music and following them. They’ve inspired me so much over the years and have carried me to so many emotional heights and depths. アリス九號.の世界は居場所ですよ。これからもずっと応援してます。

To mark the incredible achievement that is continuing a band for 18 years, they held a livestream open for all fans to watch, and then surprised us all with the unveiling of their newest song and its decadent music video.

Funeral

A song and music video that glorifies visual kei, and a return their roots.

I’ve listened to it at least a dozen times already today and it gets better every time.

I love it.

When I first listened to it, what I loved most about it was how natural it looks and sounds. The music feels complex and layered, but it flows so smoothly. The melody drew me in right away. It’s dynamic. The visuals are (in good visual kei fashion) over the top, but still feel so decadent and tasteful. It doesn’t feel like anyone is putting on airs or trying too hard to look or sound cool. They just ARE cool.

You can hear Saga’s melodic bass line threading through the song… softly and firmly tying the song together. But for the bass solo, Saga stands out, takes centre stage on a throne of an armchair. Regal and enthralling.

I love Saga’s shiny, wet-look outfit, those half-gloves, and the eye makeup. In the past, Saga would always wear a butterfly patch, and now we see the sleeker, raw version of that visual touch. The elongated white lines make me think of a spell glyph — something powerful and mysterious. Saga, I’m under your spell… ♡

Having read all of the album-related official note entries leading up to this, I had an idea of what I might be able to expect, but this is far better than I had imagined. Such a familiar style of sound, but distilled into a form that is an absolute pleasure for the ears. You’re not being hit with a wall of sound, you’re being led into a full-bodied song that you have to listen to over and over again in order to appreciate all its layers of detail.

Nao’s drumming made me think of M.C. Escher’s drawing, Relativity, of a room of impossible dimensions, filled with staircases. With long hair and a hood, Nao fully got into Visual Kei mode, and it was reminiscent of his serious performance in SAGA SEA (Saga’s birthday concert in 2021).

Tora and Hiroto’s guitar teamwork is so crisp in this song, each taking turns to leap out of the musical fray with sliding, bursting phrases.

From Shou we get a RUMWOLF-style initial gasp, a TESTAMENT-style groan, and truly great vocals throughout. I feel like we got to see a fully-realized version of Shou’s bloody Zettai Koku Ryouiki visuals and it says something that Shou seems entirely at home wearing a blood-red cross that drips from his mouth, as though the lyrics formed that shape.

Saga explained a lot of the impetus for their decision to make a purely visual kei style album in note 134, through an interview. Though the sound in the visual kei genre was fairly distinctive in the 90s and early 2000s, in recent years a lot of bands in the genre have been shying away from true visual kei sounds and blending genres instead, taking ideas and tones here and there, watering down what was once a very recognizable genre.

Drawing on the example of a “back to basics” trend in hip hop, Saga thought that they should vie for the same in Visual Kei, and with this upcoming album make something that would draw on all the markers of true Visual Kei while also updating it and making it their own with their unique sound. Saga is taking the helm as producer for this album (as a Saga-fan this news made me ecstatic), and Funeral is his composition (Kai, which we only have the lyrics for at present, is a Tora composition). When asking the others to work on compositions for the album, Saga’s request was straightforward: “Raw pieces formed simply, just with our five sounds“. Saga also told them to remember what music they themselves thought sounded cool and to try composing music from there.

Simple, yet fantastic advice.

For any sort of art-making, actually, not only music.

Based on Funeral alone, which drags us to decadent depths, I know already that I am going to have this album on repeat, and that I am going love diving into all of the lyrics as well. You can feel the way they’re building not so much a storyline but an atmosphere with this, drawing on all of the things that they think are cool and inviting us to join them in this deep new world of sound.

I’m ready to savour it.

Slowly, thoroughly.

そっと…

Afterthoughts : C/W LOVERS II

Music

I just had the pleasure of watching ALICE NINE.’s C/W LOVERS II concert via livestream in my living room and it was an incredible setlist packed with rare songs and some very cool new arrangements (or at least ones I’ve never heard before). I was completely enthralled from start to finish.

This was a two-session live, and only the second session was broadcast online. In the first session, they played 夢幻-electric eden- (I’m tearing up just imagining hearing that incredible song in person one day), and カルマ (an extremely cool composition by Saga from the GEMINI era with really fascinating lyrics).

On a TV screen the five-person band ALICE NINE. performs a song a stage lit up in blue. Below the TV, two purple galaxy lights are lit as decoration.

The standard setlist included two songs that they ordinarily reserve for fanclub-only lives (明治 and アゲハ)! And then the rest of the setlist was just pure coolness. If you tuned in to the Christmas live, for instance, it featured a lot of beautiful, emotional songs… but this setlist was made to show off how good they sound just rocking out as a band.

秘密
Neophilia
明治
アゲハ
Solar Eclipse
虹彩ストライプ
Scarlet
SLEEPWALKER
NEMESIS
戦場に花束を
Ray
FOLLOW ME

Show’s a really versatile vocalist, and seems game to try just about any genre; his tone and style have evolved so much over the years and with so much experience… there really is no one else that sounds like him. As the others have often said, Show’s voice is ALICE NINE.’s unique instrument, and the unifying factor in their very eclectic discography.

During the MC, Saga brought up the fact that Show’s singing voice alone on a recording can tell you the era of the recording you’re listening to. True–Show constantly transforms his singing style!

On a TV screen Saga and Show are seen speaking into their mics during an MC portion of their performance. Below the TV, two purple galaxy lights are lit as decoration.

Hearing them play 虹彩ストライプ was really cool for exactly that reason; I’ve only ever heard that song via the studio recording from back in 2004. Hearing the way that Show sings it now was really amazing… and of course the updated instrumentals were just as cool. Saga’s little composition grew up!

秘密 is an incredibly stylish R&B Saga composition that appeared on the Daybreak single (one of Tora’s bright, uplifting compositions), and it really set the tone for the live in a great way. Cool, composed, mature.

Neophilia is one of my favourite songs (composed by Saga during the RAINBOWS era, demo dug up by Show during the PLANET NINE era) both because of the way that it sounds and for the intricate lyrics (translation & interpretation!). To me, the song has a pretty erotic air to it, but the lyrics are sort of intellectual and playful; I love that contrast. Saga’s murky bass solo in this song is off the charts seductive.

Scarlet, another Saga composition, was absolutely incredible. The atmosphere that that song creates during the intro is one of the strongest in their discography, to me. It’s dark and seductive. I first heard that song the first time I ever went to a live, the first time they ever played it, as-yet-unreleased, back in August 2012 at Zepp DiverCity. They played birth in the death at the time too, another song with an even deeper atmosphere. It was just an incredible experience.

On a TV screen the focus is on Saga, playing bass; the stage lights are lit up in blue and purple. Below the TV, two purple galaxy lights are lit as decoration.

So hearing Scarlet again, I got goosebumps. It definitely developed even more flavour over time. Saga’s heavy, grungy bass intro drew all of the other instruments in to set up an incredible atmosphere. He looked and sounded effortlessly cool.

This entire setlist truly did have an adult feel to it, and I loved that.

Solar Eclipse has been a longtime favourite song of mine, because it has a lot of interesting little flourishes, great band sound, and everyone’s part really stands out in it. I’m particularly fond of the way Nao’s drumming and Show’s singing complement each other in this song, as well as the bass-punctuation at 鳴らせ、鳴らせ; this song builds such high anticipation, and the guitar sounds are really reflective and shiny throughout.

SLEEPWALKER really lulls you into a strange trance, and NEMESIS is a Hiroto composition (arranged by Tora), tucked away on the 虹の雪 single… I’ve always really liked this song and so hearing the different-sounding live arrangement was very fun. The lyrics are very thought-provoking.

戦場に花束を’s live arrangement is SO. COOL. SO COOL. It was incredibly cool in their 16th Anniversary Live, and it was incredibly cool in this broadcast. The intro has such a heavy weight to it, it’s like they’re all standing, immovable, on their side of the battlefield (The title of the song in English is Bouquet on the Battlefield). Another great band sound song, a Saga composition, that showcased all of their individual parts!

Ray is one of my favourite Tora compositions, with some of my favourite lyrics about a love that are written in a way that make it feel both grounded and ethereal. Saga’s bass solo in this live performance was emotional and amazing to watch.

「リズムを奏でて君を見続けたい…」♡
“I want to play a rhythm and keep looking at you…”

After an extended MC discussing a lot of very serious things (including how, in the past, they were so incredibly busy all the time, there are songs in their discography they hardly remember recording), they ended the live with the incredibly bright Hiroto composition, FOLLOW ME, from the TSUBASA. era.

What a great setlist, what a great sound!

On a TV screen is a photo of all five members of ALICE NINE. with the text "Thank you!! See you next!!" framing them. Below the TV, two purple galaxy lights are lit as decoration.