KICELL

by Mike Cromie

There is a fine line between the surreal and the real, the world of daydreams and fantasy and the other one of college loan repayment plans and early Saturday morning work meetings. Sometimes this line can be blurred, partially obscured, or even completely obliterated by dramatic events such as the death of a beloved pet goldfish or the accidental ingestion of a quarter ounce of peculiarly potent magic mushrooms. At other times, all we need to nudge our feeble brains away from their tenuous grip on reality can come in the form of something as innocuous as a beautiful or haunting melody. Such are the melodies crafted by the brothers Tsujimura of the Japanese indie-rock duo known as “キセル”(“Kicell” to the layperson).

I was introduced to Kicell by my friend, "big poppa" Joel a few years ago. Joel, who used to live in the Kansai area, attended a concert put on by a loose collection of “senior amateur” bands of all sorts. The last band to play consisted of two guys and an MD player. According to Joel, " they blew everyone in the room away," and thus, he was compelled to purchase a CD to support their endeavors.

Kicell was formed as a “brotherly unit” way back in April of 1999 with the elder of the two, Takefumi, on guitar, keyboard, and programming with his brother, Tomoharu, covering the bass duties. The brothers are like two peas in a pod in that they both sing well. They released their first mini album “Nijimu Taiyo” on CD in June of 2000 and benefited from the favorable reaction they received around the Kyoto area, reaching #5 on the Kyoto Tower Records chart and making it all the way to #1 and #2 on the CRJ West and CRJ Hiroshima charts, respectively. They followed that up with a CD maxi-single called “Horo Horo” in December of the same year that also met with success on the various indie charts and radio stations in the region, eventually earning the brothers recognition as far away as Tokyo.

In June of 2001, they finally released their first full-length album,“夢” (yume: dream), a densely layered and aurally sophisticated gem of mellow, dreamy beauty. The first track, “ハナレバナレ” (hanare banare), aches with the longing of forever separated lovers who “never change, think of each other on rainy mornings and occasionally completely forget about one another.” Further along, around track 7 or so, the song “星空” (hoshi zora) speaks of the morning being born on the other side of Neptune and wondering who’s at fault for the sadness. Intriguing.

Yume was followed by a series of singles including“雪の降る頃”(yuki no furu koro), “ギンヤンマ” (ginyanma), and “ピクニック” (picnic), a tune about having a picnic lunch on a grave (somewhat of a taboo in Japan) and ultimately “intercepting the ashen-colored sky.” I’m not exactly sure what the last part means either, but the song also appears in a slightly softer version on their second full-length album, 2002’s “近未来” (kinmirai: the near future) in which the brothers largely pick up where their previous offerings left off. The title track starts out by lamenting the covering of the blue sky by suspicious looking public notice towers while track 8, “ベガ” (bega), adds a slight south Asian feel musically with some philosophical musings like “growing weaker, getting stronger, it’s as if we’re born just to die” and concluding that we shouldn’t forget what was written yesterday, it seems to be coming true and we can’t return to it later on. Of course, this all sounds much better in Japanese.

With their sometimes cryptic but also deeply meaningful lyrics dancing in and out and around their electronically augmented acoustic stylings, Kicell offers a deeper view into a Japan that outsiders rarely get to glimpse. Indeed, their lyrics stand as a glimmering example of beautifully nuanced language in stark contrast to the regular swill of J-poppy bubblegum one is all too often bombarded with while living here in Japan. The songs are best enjoyed early in the morning or late at night. And of course, anytime in between. More information to be had on their websites.

SCENE: Kyoto

GENRE: Indie Rock/Pop

WORKS:

Nijimu Taiyo "ニジムタイヨウ" (mini-album) 2000

Kokoro wa Kimi no moto e "心は君のもとへ" (split single) 2000

Horo Horo "ほろほろ"　(CD single) 2001

Yume "夢" JVC, 2001

picnic "ピクニック" (CD single) JVC, 2001

Yuki no furu koro "雪の降る頃" (CD single) JVC, 2002

Sho no kuni "渚の国" (CD single) JVC, 2002

Ginyanma "ギンヤンマ" (CD single) JVC, 2002

Kinmirai "近未来" JVC, 2002

Sabaku ni saita hana "砂漠に咲いた花" (CD single) JVC, 2003

Houshuu "方舟" (CD single) JVC, 2003

Mado ni chikyuu "窓に地球” JVC, 2004

WEBSITE: