Peeps, allow me to just apologize right off the bat, because this MV came just over week ago and I kinda sat on it cause real life sometimes keeps me from writing about cool stuff I’d really like to talk about. But hey, this glorious new offering from Okinawa Electric Girl Saya is still relevant and deserves more views, so here we are, dagnabbit!
＜彩階段MV第一弾！＞
非常階段+沖縄電子少女彩=彩階段！ 梶芽衣子！女囚さそり！『怨み節』が21世紀に蘇る！
HIJOKAIDAN + Okinawa electric girl Saya = SAYAKAIDAN! Meiko Kaji! Female prisoner scorpion! "Grudge" revives in the 21st century!
— 沖縄電子少女彩 Okinawa Electric Girl Saya(彩階段CDリリース！) (@Tincy_saya) March 1, 2020
Anyway, the world’s busiest avant-garde idol released what I believe is her 536th release last month, and at last, it’s a CD that we should’ve suspected was inevitable: That’s right, Saya has finally teamed up with the legendary “Kings of Noise”Hijokaidan! And yes, the the project is indeed referred to as “Sayakaidan” because that’s the traditional naming convention for all Hijokaidan/idol collaborations.
And we’ve got this evocative, beautifully shot MV to get the mood just right. Let’s go check it out…
Wow! Okinawa Electric Saya is so full-steam-ahead at this point that I really can’t keep up with her, but I’m trying my best! I joked before that I suspect that she doesn’t actually sleep, and that theory seems to only continue to hold up to the evidence at hand…
— 沖縄電子少女彩 Okinawa Electric Girl Saya 9/6〜11/22全国ツアー (@Tincy_saya) September 10, 2019
So our favorite black-clad-experimental-neo-art-idol from Okinawa dropped another MV today, her third video set piece promoting her recent album “Black Angel”. As per usual, it’s worth checking out and delving into a world significantly different than what anybody else in the game is exploring…
It’s been far too long since we’ve talked about Okinawa Electric Girl Saya, but within the space of when we last discussed her idol/experimental art fusions and now, she’s truly been tireless in her pursuit of her craft. I’d say Saya is among the most relentlessly active people on the scene, with consistent live performances, new collaborations, (Hey Soze!) and recordings practically weekly if not daily. What may have begun as a casual dipping into the well of avant-garde audio has become a full-time embrace of the bolder and more outré edges of the musical spectrum…
For some time now, Saya’s been releasing monthly CDRs of her noise experiments that she sells at shows, but these releases are a bit hard to get hold of outside of Japan. If you recall in the previous article, I mentioned that Saya has a unique aura that would do quite well with the Bandcamp business model, and I’m pleased to tell you that currently there are indeed some selections available at last.
Aside from her own self-released works, Saya’s been offering a few of her collaborations via Terminal Explosion, a label based around noise, industrial, hip-hop, and underground electronica run by a mysterious beat-maker known only as Ax. Currently, there are two available CDR (or digital) releases and a collaboration album that you can pre-order, along with some nice little merch items!
The first is “Dischord”, an EP that features a beautifully unique take on a Okinawan folk song..
The second is “Mayhem” , a series of chaotic but compelling noise-blasts that go hard…
And soon-to-come is a full-length album titled “Chastity”, which you can pre-order now…
The digital downloads for “Dischord” and “Mayhem” are “name your price”, or you can buy them as CDRs for ¥1,000 each with (very reasonable) international shipping available. The album “Chastity” has a pre-determined price digitally, but also has a few tangible package options that include a t-shirt, a badge, or even all three recordings as a bundle, so check out the options and see what looks good to you!
In addition to these cool releases, the ever-prolific noise maker is also currently about 80% done crowdfunding another entirely new album called “Black Angel” that as of this writing, only has about two days left! The funding site, Campfire, is intended to be used only in Japan, but it is possible to lend your support by using a service like Tenso to serve as your “Japanese address”, so there is a window to help if you wish…
— 沖縄電子少女彩 Okinawa Electric Girl Saya 4/30までクラファン中！ (@Tincy_saya) April 28, 2019
And you know what the other cool thing is? We’re not even half-way through the year yet, so it’s realistic to expect that this flurry of output for 2019 isn’t even close to being finished yet! What else will Saya do, and who else will she collaborate with? I don’t think she’s conceding any limitations on what she’ll accomplish. That’s what keeps an artist artist fresh and exciting, so let’s all enjoy where the trip takes us, and support her wherever we can.
We must be slipping or something, you guys; this live clip of Dots doing the appropriately titled “NOISE” isn’t like so brandy new that nobody could have possibly seen it before I stumbled across it yesterday (good ol’ YouTube). That ain’t right! All things Dots should be immediately lifted up and celebrated for the … something that it is.
I have waited an entire year to be able to use this post title
Dots! The most enigmatic project in idol, anywhere from five to nine girls doing what can only be described as music-based performance art, ostensibly idol but do they even buppan? Everybody’s name is ・!
Here’s a more recent performance of “Noise Suite” on a stage that looks like it’s in a lecture hall:
