Sakamoto Shintaro sings laid-back songs about his (our?) hopeless desperation
Sakamoto Shintaro makes what I in 2015 described as a Japanese version of the so-called Indo Rock, the music that started the Golden Age of Dutch pop music in the sixties and seventies. I still stand by that qualification. Sakamoto makes mellow pop often with his steel-guitar as its distinctive feature.
Sakamoto has a new album out, een EP, Suki tte Iu Kimochi, “A Feeling of Affection”. Listen to it here. The above is a track from it. It’s a bit zany and the video gives it a David Lynch-like atmosphere which adds a layer of impending doom to Sakamoto’s apparently relaxed, happy-go-lucky attitude. “No matter how carefree I was drinking and playing, I’m at a loss, I’m giving up hope”, he’s singing.
So it’s not so simple and inconsequential as you may think. (PB)





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