|
|
|
|
|
Want
to know more about Mamoru Tanabe or this site? Why not send an email.
|
| |
|
Profile |
|
A constantly expanding portrait of the man and his work! |
|
|
|
Mamoru
Tanabe is a Tokyo based singer and songwriter. His songs are bitter-sweet
portraits of life and love. His experience of modern Japanese life is
wryly humorous but his themes are serious and universal. |
|
| When I think of my
life I often forget the small things that make me happy. Going for a walk,
seeing a kind face, eating something really good, spending a day doing
nothing with someone I love. But listening to Mamoru Tanabe's music I am
reminded of all the small happinesses and sadnesses that make my life.
And, somehow, because they are such ordinary things they become important
again. |
|
| In some ways Mamoru
Tanabe's career has been opposite to many singer-songwriters. His early
albums Dream
Memory (1994) and Eyes Wide Open But Still Asleep (1995) were on the major
Sony label. The songs were smoothly produced, seemingly aimed at the pop
mainstream. Production, whilst not entirely suppressing Tanabe's idiosyncratic
lyrics, tended toward the romantic. |
|
| Dobojide
("Why?") (1996) marked a radically different approach. The
starkly produced songs were spare, personal, ironic, and often dark,
without any of the romanticism of the earlier two albums. Whilst not easy
listening by any means, this album is a favourite of many Mamoru Tanabe
fans. |
|
| Dobojide may have
been somewhat cathartic for Tanabe, for his next album, Young American
(1998), was much more upbeat, whilst retaining the personal voice he had
found. This album sets the themes that are to predominate in later
material: the social commentary of 'America Taught Us All', the sprawling
love comedy of 'Hawaii Song' and ennui of 'Boredom and Peace'. |
|
| With the next album,
Love Comedy (1999), Tanabe seemed to have found a much more
consistent and slightly rockier sound. From the deeply personal 'From a
Far Country' to the upbeat celebration of 'Fireworks', the songs continue
to explore the meaning of love, life, friendship and adulthood. The
standout track is the anthemic 'Playboy Song', a portrait of a man's
development as a "world champion" seducer - from first kiss to
drunken success and onward! This might seem somewhat misogynistic but
Tanabe's self-effacing humour is always present and the song is a
sing-a-long hit with the female fans at live shows. |
|
