Welcome back, kids. It’s been a while, really it has. I never expected my break from blogging to be quite so pronounced, but like most things, you never can tell, can you! Anyway, I’m back. I’ve fired up the C*R-h boiler, thrown on a few more pieces of coal for good measure, and things are warming up nicely again. Go get yourself your favourite drink, pick up a bite to eat, or simply get down to reading some quality Caught*Red-handed. It’s good to have you back…

Music is big in my life, as I’m sure it is in yours. It always has been, always will be. Listening to my favourite song on the walk home from the office, I’ll often find myself doubling back just so I can listen to the end of it, doing another round of the block until it’s finished. Onlookers must think I’m mad, and probably I am, but it’s a good example of the irrational hold over me that music has. It’s infectious, all-consuming, and I love it, in whatever form it comes.

That said, jpop is not usually an area that I slink into, really it isn’t. I find myself getting confused, stumbling down corridors that I never knew existed and kicking open doors into places I’d rather not be. Oftentimes also, I’ll find that what was once a perfectly good walkway one minute has totally changed, or has gone completely. You see, like everything else that comes flying out from within the shores of fair, beautiful Japan; one minute it’s there, the next minute it’s not.

However, there is one band that has really caught my attention (no pun intended, oh go on then, maybe there was…). They’ve been touted as not being your average jpop creation, being a little more grown up, accessible even. Whether that’s true or not I am not qualified to say, but one thing I do know for sure is that vividblaze have managed to sabotage my musical stance on jpop completely.

miniature city 2 – featuring vividblaze - from mockmoon on Vimeo.

vividblaze are Miho Tezuka on lyrics and Yasunari Okano on arrangement. Recently they went global when their song, Tight Rope (Floor Mix) launched on iTunes and made it big time as the soundtrack to an advert for Google Maps, followed by two albums that have done nothing but blow away me, and no doubt, countless others.

People like applying labels to things, and vividblaze fascinate me as they attempt to ensure that none of the labels apply. One minute you’re drenched in glorious rays of jazz-sunshine and immediately you’re with friends laying in the grass (ある日僕は美しくも儚い夢を見た), the sun on your face, not a care in the world, a group of your friends playing impromptu nearby, wonderful food grilling on a barbecue, drinks being poured, a stream bubbling by. The next you’re sat with Chihiro in Yubaba’s onsen (凛) as the ethereal piano and far out percussion paints the perfect backdrop to any Ghibli film. Suddenly you’re in space (Nostalgic Moon), planets flying past at breakneck speeds, a shooting star bursting into a million colours far away. Finally you’re on a night out with your mates (Pizzcato Mind), dancing like lunatics to some incredible bass line as Tezuka’s lyrics wrap themselves around your conscience and hurl you in and out of reality.

Many artists that try to transcend genres like vividblaze often get typecast as uncertain of their end goal, not sure of their outlook on the musical spectrum, but for me, they corner their very own market. They’ve hit the mark smack-bang on the head, and they’re holding onto it like nobody’s business. I wouldn’t be surprised if their influences ran from the likes of Stevie Wonder and Ivan Lins through Annie Lennox and Goldfrapp and back again. It’s almost like they’ve taken all the feel-good parts of every song to which you’ve ever listened, put them through a massive blender and the resultant parts have then been sewn together to make vb’s amazing tapestry of music.

So, dutiful readers, if you haven’t heard of vb before, then now is a fantastic time to get yourself a copy of their latest albums. Yes, that’s right, they’ve just released two, practically back-to-back! Land Side 2010 – 2012 takes the listener through some fantastic jazz-, blues-, house-related creations, whilst Space Side 2012 – 2030 gives way to some slightly more electronic, but still as beautifully crafted masterpieces.

And so you can see, vb have most certainly done it for me.