Jinkougaku

Can't understand a thing what is being sung. But mostly the bass is funky and very cool. It's a fun album!

Inside Joke // 3.5/5

Lately I've realized I dislike that sugary J-Pop version of funk, and this is another album I can't stand. The weak and uncool vocal performance feels incredibly forced and I hate it. Note about this admittedly very aggressive take up there: I am only channeling the same aggressive words used by the person who suggested this album -- words they used about a punk record in one of their highlighted reviews. So if you have any complaint about me not pulling any punches here, you'll have to take it to this person. There's always a way to describe your personal pet peeves without sounding out of your depth. Of course, no one is totally immune to that sort of shortcoming -- me included --but If you can use AI to translate your original Japanese words (which I believe this person has done), there's always a way to ask said AIs how to better convey your opinion while you're at it. Returning to the subject of today's album, I am quite nonplussed to say the least. After that all-around great Yellow Magic Orchestra LP yesterday (another Japanese act, by the way), Zutomayo's *Jinkougaku* indeed feels like we're suddenly falling into an abyss of irrelevance. The ride certainly feels bumpier in the users list by now. Many very blatant omissions from the original 1001 Albums book have already been mentioned at the start, and so the quality dip in the suggestions has become unavoidable. Expect my charts and overall statistics to reflect this in the near-future. To be fair, and beyond my first gut reaction about this record, there are still a couple of redeeming elements to be found in it. "Time Left", "Kira Killer" and "Inside Joke" are absolute earworms that also feel "organic" and lively, very objectively. And some of the arrangements found in this "happy-go-lucky" tracklist are extremely dynamic and sophisticated, far from the usual artificial-sounding J-Pop run-of-the-mill dross. But that voice, that *horrible* voice... And those hackneyed vocal lines, 100% flat on a harmonic standpoint... This singer ruins everything for me. She's so frigging tiring and grating in "MIRROR TUNE" (the capital letters are on point here -- it really feels like that some annoying frail-looking girl is unconvincingly yelling at me on this track, instead of singing like she intends to do!) that I just can't help placing the whole suggestion in my one-star gallery -- in spite of its redeeming elements. Another example where aggressiveness misses the point, I guess... So essentially, what I am facing here is the sort of album I would gladly skip, either to discover something else, or write something on a record I am already familiar with. That skip option would be greatly appreciated in those circumstances, I dare repeat it here... Am I alone in thinking this, by the way? Leave your comments after your own reviews (I have an opportunity here, since it looks like I'm among the very first users to whom this suggestion is submitted). I'll return to this page from time to time to read your opinions about this... Also, it looks like the user who suggested this record has stopped leaving reviews on this generator at the end of last April (2026), after rating only 118 albums from the original list. How come their suggestion has not been reviewed by anyone up to this point, by the way? This here is a bit mysterious for me, is it not? I hope this person is fine and nothing bad has happened to them. But honestly, I sometimes feel like the suggestions of the "contributors" who don't even properly engage with the original list could at least be provisionally relegated to a third ranking... Other advanced users may consider those choices made by people who didn't even "put in the work" yet, so to speak, as cluttering the pipes for no good reason! Once again, am I alone in thinking this? After more than four years of using this generator, maybe it's high time I downloaded the Reddit app on my phone, and go to the forums to see what everyone else is saying about that sort of thing... 1/5 for the purposes of this list dedicated to essential albums. 6/10 for more general purposes (4/5 for the musicianship and production values + 2/5 for the artistry) ---- Number of albums from the original list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 465 Albums from the original list I *might* include in mine later on: 288 Albums from the original list I won't include in mine: 336 ---- Number of albums from the users list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 107 Albums from the users list I *might* select for mine later on: 116 Albums from the users list I won't select for mine: 251 (including this one) ---- Message 2/4 pour Émile: Comme tu peux le voir dans ma review au dessus, je suis dans une phase grognon aujourd'hui, ha ha ! Et avec cet état d'esprit, je vais avoir du mal à partager ton enthousiasme pour le dernier Gorillaz. *The Mountain* démarre pourtant très bien, avec cette intro instrumentale mystique. Et je comprends que le champ thématique du disque, qui questionne les thèmes de la mort et de la spiritualité, puissent émouvoir les über-fans comme toi (mon collègue de Mowno, Camille, explique plutôt bien cet aspect du disque dans sa dernière chronique, si tu ne l'as pas encore lue). Mais après cette intro, pour moi tout s'écroule et s'essouffle très rapidement d'un point de vue strictement musical. Je trouve que l'exécution froide de ces morceaux assez manufacturés ne colle pas avec les thématiques en question. Je ne suis pas transporté. Et l'album est beaucoup trop long, on perd toute idée de dynamisme d'un titre à l'autre. Il y a toujours eu un aspect "abattage industriel" chez Gorillaz, et ce depuis le premier album... Mais il y a aussi eu plein de choses pour rattraper ça. Là je ne vois que le côté manufacturé apparaître. Pour moi, le dernier bon album de Gorillaz est *The Now Now*, de 2018, que je trouve salement sous-estimé. Tu l'aimes bien, ce disque, d'ailleurs ? Alors certes, narrativement parlant, cet autre album ne proposait pas grand chose de précis par rapport aux autres "concepts" du projet. Mais quand les grand concepts finissent par éclipser l'exigence musicale à mes yeux, ça me fait toujours un peu râler... Je sors de ma phase grognon, maintenant, pour rebondir sur le sujet de *Backrooms*. Tu sais déjà à quel point je me sens déconnecté du monde du cinéma aujourd'hui, et non, je n'ai toujours pas vu ce fLim. 😉 Mais figure-toi que j'en ai beaucoup entendu parler pour des raisons... musicales. En effet, j'ai lu que son générique de fin utilisait un des titres du tout dernier album de Boards Of Canada, *Inferno*, sorti il y a environ un mois. Et cet album est juste un disque extraordinaire pour moi, qui sera probablement dans mon top 10 à la fin de l'année. J'ai toujours été un fan très casual de ce duo électronique écossais (je n'avais même pas toute leur discographie à la maison, seulement deux albums jusqu'ici), mais je trouve que là, ils ont su transcender leur propos habituel pour illustrer nos temps maudits avec un incontestable brio. C'est souvent très sombre, comme souvent chez eux harmoniquement destabilisant, mais ça peut aussi être tendre ou même optimiste parfois. Et je pense que nombre de fans de films (comme toi) ne peuvent que se laisser emporter par cette musique, dont l'ADN est marqué au fer -- ici forcément rouge -- du mot "cinématique". Vu le pitch de *Backrooms*, choisir d'inclure Boards Of Canada dans le soundtrack de cette oeuvre ne peut donc être qu'un "match made in heaven" -- très ironiquement au regard du titre du disque et du sujet abordé par le film. Coïncidence amusante pour finir, *Inferno* a été chroniqué par le même Camille dans Mowno -- le "collègue" dont je te parlais tout à l'heure, qui a parlé du dernier Gorillaz. Donc vas-y, écoute ça, et dis-moi ce que tu en penses... To be continued...

Upbeat and colorful 🪔

This group advertises as rock? Not even close.