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Just thinking of getting up in the morning without my healthy dose of pillows music gives me goose bumps. Their uplifting melodies composed of innovative guitar rifts and stirring beats hit right on the mark. The beauty of it all is that they do not just stick to a winning formula or cling to a single hit; each of their albums reinvents the next and this has been going on for over ten years now.
It is a lost cause to try to define their music. Even if the focus is mainly on the ever-popular guitar, their melodies have a certain feel you just cannot find anywhere else. Guitars are a lot more versatile than many think and the pillows are out there to prove it. Some songs, for example, are solely instrumental and highlight their awesome resourcefulness without ever dragging. Some do feel a bit short but the trick is simply to play them repeatedly until the craving is appeased. Like all great bands, they do not disappoint their fans when it comes to live performances. Giving it all they have on stage is just part of their daily routing and by looking at their impressive tour lists during the past few years, they must enjoy it, too. The Furi Kuri soundtracks are readily available anywhere and contain some of their best compositions so you have no excuses this time and must give this band a shot if you have not already. I can guarantee you will feel the hybrid rainbow.
The band then experienced five years of mild success, mostly due to their vibrant live performances. Their 1997 album, Please Mr. Lost Man, is what really put them on the map, and all following albums were instant hits. Their participation in the original video animation Furi Kuri might have opened a door for them in America. Let us wait and see. While the pillows are still very active, two of them have little projects on the side. Yamanaka owns his own record label named Delicious Label, producing many bands including his own, The Predators, with GLAY bassist, Jiro. Manabe is also part of a reggae group called Ninemiles and occasionally tours Japan. the
pillows don't appear to let themselves get sidetracked by solo
projects. My Foot dates back to last year and Good Dreams a
year before that. They have spent the summer touring the United States and
Mexico (yes, you heard me). Might I suggest Montreal next?
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Little Buster
The line-up on this album is just incredible. Hybrid Rainbow alone makes it worth the price, and then you get One Life, Blue Drive Monster and Little Buster which surpasses Herbal Essences™ in orgasmic experiences. My only grip is the limited amount of gentle songs but the dosage is still enough. |
It doesn't get much better than when Sawao yells "Can You Feel!?" at the top of his lungs. It is one of the first songs that opened my eyes to the importance of an emotional vocalist and got me instantly hooked on The Pillows.
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Official Site: http://www.pillows.gr.jp Nine Miles (featuring Manabe Yoshiaki)'s Official Site: http://www.pillows.gr.jp/ninemiles Delicious Label (owned by Yamanaka Sawao)'s Official Site: http://www.delicious-label.com (Tip: use AltaVista's Babel Fish translator)
English Fan Sites: Instant Music: http://home.cfl.rr.com/pirouzu/ Planet Pillows: http://www.tait.nildram.co.uk/thepillows/
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Many
fans of Japanese animation were in for a pleasant surprise when first
witnessing the fresh new sounds coming from their Furi Kuri soundtracks,
almost entirely composed of previous pillows hits. Being
relatively unknown outside Japan before then, the rocking trio already had
several albums published and if it was not for its concoction with anime,
myself and many others would have sadly missed out on one of today’s
most talented bands.
Where
have the pillows been all my life? Well, they were always
there I just did not know about them. Now that you do, there is no turning
back. The first time I heard Yamanaka shouting his heart out during the
chorus of Hybrid Rainbow, I knew this band was like no other.
the
pillows released their first mini-album in 1990 about a year after
their formation as a four-member band. The bassist, Kenji Ueda, even
though he founded the band, left two years later to become producer of
his own record company, Delicious Label. The rest of the team never really felt the need to
replace him, since all songs were composed by Sawao Yamanaka and
guest bassists were lining up to play at their concerts and recordings.
