Shiina Ringo (椎名林檎)

Accompanied by graceful sitar, tabla and brilliant horn section, in her new video Shiina Ringo plays a role of tragic heroin. As a Geisha girl, she travels through time from the Edo period to Tokyo 2015.

At the end of the last century, she made a breakthrough (in a nurse uniform) with the video for “Honnou”, or “Instinct”. So it’s natural way for her to play a surprising, or even shocking role – she is Japanese Lady Gaga or David Bowie. At the end of the new video, she jumps off from Tokyo Tower to heaven or hell, just like Ziggy Stardust.

Shiina Ringo is also a rare talent who has managed to blend jazz, soul and even classical with Japanese pop or traditional music in her own, very special way. And her version of J-POP has been as successful as what Cornelius has ever done.

Many Japanese female musicians said that they had been influenced by her. My friend, Ian F. Martin, once wrote in the Guardian article: “Ringo Sheena is one of the most important Japanese music artists of the past fifteen years or so, so any new material of hers is worth paying attention to.”

In this article, he introduced Shiina’s collaboration with Yasutaka Nakata, the producer of Capsule, Perfume, and Kyary Pamyu Pamyu. In her new video, “God, nor Buddha” (神様、仏様), Shutoku Mukai from the Japanese No Wave act ZAZEN BOYS raps about his original vision of Buddhism. “Nothing stays the same. Again and again, our libido revives.”

As you may know, Shiina Ringo called her performance a sexual healing.

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Shiina Ringo on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, www.

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