-=- SHGZ -=-
* Shoegaze * Indie * Post-Rock * Grunge * Dream Pop * Psych-Rock * Ethereal *
ARTIST..: Pasteboard
ALBUM...: Glitter
GENRE...: Indie
STYLE...: Dream Pop, Shoegaze, Indie Pop
YEAR....: 2005
LABEL...: abcdefg*record
COUNTRY.: Japan
FORMED..: 2001, Saitama, Saitama
VOCALS..: Japanese
ENCODER.: LAME 3.100 -V 0
BITRATE.: 268 kbps avg
QUALITY.: 44.1kHz / Joint Stereo
SOURCE..: CD
TRACKS..: 9
SIZE....: 59.03 MB
URL..: http://fnewsmagazine.com/2021/12/trusting-tradition-pasteboards-glitter-will-never-grow-old
http://web.archive.org/web/20060223060323/http://www.indiesnews.com/interview36.html
http://web.archive.org/web/20060509062816/http://www.nexon.co.jp/JP/Page/NX.aspx?URL=article/musicinterview_13
- TRACKLIST
1 Breakbeats 3:10
2 Cacao 2:50
3 Flipper 4:00
4 Freesoul 4:38
5 Nowhere 2:27
6 Shoegazer 2:29
7 Slowdive 4:49
8 Squall 3:37
9 Starcharts 2:23
Total Playtime: 30:23
Pasteboard is a guitar pop and shoegaze project by Roly Roly Rag Bear members
Mihoko Tanoue and Makoto Igarashi formed in 2001. In 2002, Pasteboard was
ranked #1 on the Japanese music website MUSIC Watch. They made their debut in
2005 with the release of their album "Glitter", but have since put their
activities on pause to focus on Roly Poly Rag Bear.
*
- Pasteboard's Glitter: An underrated classic -
Pasteboard is a Japanese shoegaze side project formed by Igarashi Makoto and
Tanoue Mihoko of the Indie-pop band Roly Poly Rag Bear. Pasteboard came out
with their first and only album "Glitter" on December 21, 2005, and in the 18
years since then, it has become a cult classic, mostly from its resurgence
online, it feels like everyone has a different story on how they found the
album. Recently, Glitter received a reissue by the record label "7th heaven"
as well as a deluxe edition released in April of 2023. The release included a
Vinyl that sold out in just a few hours, showing the dedication of
Pasteboard's fan base. Although none of the songs from the deluxe edition
will be covered here if this album piques your interest I strongly recommend
checking out the new material as it contains some excellent tracks including
a personal favorite snowsheep.
Glitter's strong suit is the atmosphere it creates through the songs. The
most consistent theme of discussions and reviews of this album is the
comfortable and calm vibe it brings. Personally, this album gives off the
atmosphere of a place that you haven't been to but is somehow familiar. It's
hard to describe but it's something that I've rarely felt from other records.
The entire record has an aura of familiarity that makes it seem like
something you heard a long time ago in a dream.
Glitter kicks off with "Breakbeats" giving a taste of what the album has to
offer with its loud guitar and subdued drums. The song's lyrics talk about a
person who uses their hands to break something over and over again giving the
song its repeating lyrics which makes the song feel like an endless loop of
breaking over and over again. The lyrics could very well become annoying but
instead, it gets the point of breaking over and over again across perfectly
and emotionally.
The next highlight on the record is "Flipper" which for me always stood out
for its drums. It probably has some of the most simplistic and repetitive
drums I've ever heard. On this entire album guitar is the main focus but only
on this song the drums are the only thing that I can pay attention to. This
song is beautiful and is the first song that comes to mind when I think of
this record.
The final song I want to highlight is "Starcharts", the final song on the
album. This is the heaviest song on the album with louder distortion, Faster
guitar, piano, and vocals that are mixed with guitar to make dreamy
distorted vocals. This is the perfect sendoff to the album using the low
energy the album has had and making it a sendoff that feels like the record
has been building up to. The lyrics are unfortunately hard to translate and
don't make any sense with the limited translation Google can provide but I
think the song is about waiting to see a meteor shower, which fits with the
vibe of the song feeling melancholic like you're waiting for someone.
This album is a masterpiece and I cannot recommend it enough. It has a
powerful emotional edge despite its language barrier. Its cult fan base
ensures that this record will live in the hearts of thousands for years to
come, it's a truly unforgettable record that needs to be heard by more
people.
*
- The only album by the Japanese duo just once again speaks of how beautiful
music can be invisible in society. -
To say that shoegaze and dream pop are great genres is already pointless. It
is also pointless to say how many musicians can be hiding behind a shadow. If
days earlier I reviewed lovesliescrushing, now, perhaps, I will be reviewing
Pasteboard, and their only album is Glitter.
You can only call it shoegaze on the first couples of the first two
tracks-then a calmer and kinder side opens up. What is also characteristic is
that we are faced with male vocals with lyrics in Japanese, which is quite
rare.
Ironically, but as the first 2 tracks here are the best and the most
wonderful, as it is. The other music on Glitter, though, is charming in all
cases. There is not much noise on Glitter, which is another reason not to
call it a full-fledged shoegaze album.
All in all, the album is another great dream pop and slightly shoegaze album.
He is one of those who no one knows, but it is clearly one of those that are
really great.
*
Glitter is a short-lived paradise that takes you strolling without much sense
of direction, allowing you idle moments of recuperation.
Japanese shoegaze-ala Oeil and Kinokoteikoku-seems to take on a form not
unlike the solitary act of flying a kite. You find someplace beautiful to set
yourself down, but you're not forced to stay in one place. You allow yourself
to run if you'd like, and no one is discouraging you from doing so. You have
a choice to stay in place, using the focal point of the kite and the
surrounding sounds of nature to put you at ease. In fact, it's the idea that
you're attached to something, unable to fathom the idea of releasing it into
thin air. You want to keep it held tightly, not wanting it to end, but
knowing that the wind will die at some point in the day.
Glitter's lateral form of progression does not at any point appear clipped or
short-sighted. That is if such progress was able to be definitively tracked.
Each song is earnest in a monosyllabic way, as gentle as a lullaby, or as
indelible as the first time you hear "I love you." A great emphasis is placed
instrumentally on not being too impatient or jarring, which follows much of
the fundamentals of shoegazing. "Shoegazer" and "Slowdive," perhaps even
refer to the impact the genre has had on Pasteboard. As the tracks begin to
wind down, the album's nascence becomes clearer. There's this unwarranted
feeling from the listener, to long to hear it for the first time again.
Ultimately, there is nothing in Pasteboard's discography to compare it to.
Their other band, Roly Poly Rag Bear, seems to retain the good vibes, the
plasma of the songs. But it seems the instruments are played with less
delicacy. There is less mystery in how the songs make you feel apart from
yourself. There is practically no information on these folks--they came, they
saw, without any intention of conquering the genre.
To bring it back to flying a kite, I think there are many things in this life
that might elude you when you meet them for the first time. Knowing that a
stranger is simply a vague face in your mind, a purchase is simply an item to
add to your shelf, a cup of coffee will be waiting for you the next morning.
There's joy in all these things, sure, but an enigmatic joy. Every time we
partake in something, there is a silkscreen that appears over the memory of
the last time. The more you listen to Glitter, the more you'll want to
stabilize it with something familiar. I believe I am one of the runners, one
of the seekers that take the kite into woods until it's tattered to
smithereens. If I decide to release it, I will be remiss to let its memory go
to waste. On a windless day, as I cut the string, letting the cloth of the
kite drift down into the dirt, I will clench the spool in my hand. The kite
will stay there as long as it can until it too will fade away. The next time
I get a kite and set it to the wind, I will remember that first one. They
will kind of blend into each other. Perhaps that's why I get so emotional
when I listen to shoegaze. I can remember the first note but can never recall
the presence of the last.
-=- SHGZ -=-
-=-=-==-=-=-
Dream Pop
is a subgenre of
alternative rock and neo-psychedelia
that emphasizes atmosphere and sonic texture as much as pop
melody. Common characteristics include breathy vocals, dense productions,
and effects such as reverb, echo, tremolo, and chorus. It often
overlaps with the related genre of shoegaze, and the
two genre terms have at times been
used interchangeably.
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