Vola & the Oriental Machine - Principle of Machine
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Song: Principle of Machine
From album: Waiting for My Food
[Buy CD][Website][Song Lyrics]
Oh yeah, that blog thing….
Vola & the Oriental Machine is something of a Japanese indie supergroup, with a formidable lineup including Inazawa Ahito from Number Girl, Aoki Yutaka from downy, and Nakahata Daiki from syrup16g.
When their first demo came out it was completely different from what I expected and I couldn’t really get into it. I seem to have a habit of letting music sit for a while. You might call it marinating, or maybe decanting. Whatever happens in the interim, I often come back wondering what I could have possibly been thinking when I first put it away. Some of my favorite bands I had once put in the cellar to ripen.
Probably it’s only my tastes that ripen as they learn to keep an open mind and actively seek out an understanding and appreciation, rather than waiting around for a sudden bowling-over.
In any case, I like these guys a lot more now, with their second release, than I did when they first appeared. This album definitely has some great moments, and if I like them this much more from one album to the next, I can’t wait until next month.
March 15th, 2007 at 9:50 pm
[Principle of machine]
One way 意味 無く 憔悴 戦慄
One way アノ娘はミッドナイトハニー
One way 犬 鳴く 睡眠 推奨
One way 夜明けまで Short time. One, two hours
Principle of machine I am a visitor
Principle of machine Temptation of a machine
One way 意思 無く 成り行き 日和見
One way 心境 波浪 Hello
One way 君 鳴く？ 無期限 不機嫌
One way 夕べまで Short time. One, two hours
Principle of machine I am a visitor
Principle of machine Temptation of a machine
Dreaming, that’s all I want
But my old heart made of sand
Never understand
Screaming, that’s all I want
Now I will change your world
Give it all your way to machine
P.O.M
Dreaming, that’s all I want
But my old heart made of sand
Never understand
Screaming, that’s all I want
Now I will change your world
Give it all your way
Bleeding, it’s sensation
And we will have fun with this communication
Preaching, that’s lost nation
I will say good-bye
You should throw it away to machine
March 15th, 2007 at 10:17 pm
My own listnening experience of the band is opposite of what you’ve just described. I loved the band when the demo came out and enjoyed the album on the first couple of listens. But their music hasn’t sat well with me. It might be because I was comparing them to other Number Girl offshoots (sloth love chunks, toddle, zazen boys)- I felt that Vola wasn’t as polished as SLC and toddle, nor were they offering something drastically different like Zazen Boys.
Also, Inazawa might be one of the greatest rock drummers ever, but I’m definitely not sold on him being a vocalist. He sounds okay on record, but I’ve seen live vids and it’s not particularly pleasing to the ears. Coincidently, the same can be said with Tabuchi Hisako and Toddle.
Nonetheless, I’m curious what the new album will sound like. There’s too much talent behind Vola for them to fail.
March 16th, 2007 at 11:33 am
It’s hard to compare them with their related bands really, as they don’t seem to show much influence from them somehow.
It’s probably because Inazawa is leading the show on this one for the first time, and is getting most of the creative input. You are right about the Toddle comparison, though I can’t fault them for trying, there’s a definite draw to being able to give a voice to your feelings without an instrumental mediator.
I do seem to notice an increase in overall polish and accessibility on this record though. Those can sometimes be steps toward becoming bland, but maybe in this case they will be steps toward becoming more creatively balanced. I guess we’ll see.
December 14th, 2007 at 10:18 am
“but I’ve seen live vids and it’s not particularly pleasing to the ears.”
When has vocal talent been the focus of any of the bands mentioned? Mukai’s voice is horrid in Number Girl, but it fits so well. Same with Ahito in VOLA.
December 14th, 2007 at 7:25 pm
“When has vocal talent been the focus of any of the bands mentioned?”. It isn’t. I was merely making a side remark that I don’t find Ahito’s singing pleasing. But on the other hand, I like Mukai’s singing. He’s got that kickass ability to transition from a long note to a roaring growl. Ahito’s nasal accented singing just doesn’t do it for me. Whether or not it “fits” the music is another issue.