Listen to Japanese music here!
Quruli, according to their website, have diverse influences, embody the 90's alternative guitar music, go back to the root music, and are quite taken with techno and house music, which leads to a whole lot of different types of music all on one album. Not an easily classifiable band. They are made up of Shigeru on vocals, Masashi on Bass, and Tasshin on guitar.
Currently, I am in amazed love with their Zukan album, so I'll post my terrible review of it here for all to see. (Fun fact, this album was before Christopher started working with them.)
Starting out, we have an intro track. It's nothing important...just an intro...barely over a minute long orchestration of...unimportance. Good for it.
Next we have the song March. I absolutely love the tempo changes all through this song, they really make it interesting. Starts off fast paced and busy then it abruptly changes to mellow reminding me of walking down the road lazily kicking a rock...then going right back into the action.
Next is the album version of Aoi Sora. GREAT song...possibly the first Quruli song I heard...well...not this version...I don't know what kind of effect is used to do it, but it has the same sort of squeaky noise that's in a lot of old surf songs, which is a great touch. The song is pretty upbeat and the chorus is really catchy easily getting stuck in your head for hours on end.
Then we have Millennium. I love how it starts out with the just the bass then leading into the acoustic guitar. Nice build up. This song is pretty mellow, but not depressing. More like a nice stroll around the city type song.
Now we come to Wakusei Zukuri. The beginning of this song always reminds me of Lab.'s song Sky Love ver. 1.5...that is until the bass kicks in and immediately makes a clear distinction. For some reason, this reminds me of going into space. Strange thought. The way the drums in this song kind of split themselves parting through the left side some through the right is really quite interesting. Although it's just an instrumental track, it's a really nice interlude.
Now Mado. This has got to be my favorite song on this album. It reminds me a lot of how the Beatles in their Abbey Road album would switch the feeling of their songs all throughout them. This song goes from heavy guitar to acoustic and mellow...then a little more ominous sound leading straight into an almost hopeful sound back to the heavy dreary-ness. There is so much going on in this song, it's impossible to describe. Simply an amazing song.
Coming after is Chianooze. This song has a very dark feeling to begin with and the bass line sometimes reminds me of the phantom of the opera song...then it switches into a bit more optimistic chorus.
Afterwards is Piano Girl. Gorgeous song consisting of only piano and vocals and has an almost sorrowful feeling to it. Simply beautiful. Towards the end it somewhat reminds me of Jesus Bleibet Meine Freunde..but that's probably just me.
Coming next would be the song Abula. This song/interlude I didn't like too much. Too experimental, and crazed. Luckily it only lasts for a minute and a half!
Now we have Byoubugaura. This song is really nice and flowy. The soft drumbeats and acoustic guitar really add to the mellow effect. This song makes the world seem like a nice place. Wow.
Next is Machi, which is a drastic change from Byoubuguara with the almost sorrowfully wailed lyrics and heavy beat. This doesn't last long as it immediately mellows out a little bit building back up to the sorrowful chorus. It changes around like this for most of the song until it's abrupt, almost Radiohead-like end.
The next song we come to is Russia no Roulette. I'll tell you from personal experience, this is a strange song to wake up to. Starting out with a steady strong drum beat and simple plucking on the guitar, this song gives no warning to the craziness it leads into. This song is SO nonsensical in some parts and mellow in others, it's an amazing fusion.
Home Run, which is the next song in line, always makes me laugh in the beginning. It sounds like something you'd hear on the radio in the 50's or so, but that doesn't last. This song is very energetic and happy, but just a little bland...
After that is Gallon (gallon mix).This song is odd. Experimental sound with some Indian woman singing in it. Obviously not one of my favorites, as it is pretty repetitive until about halfway through the song when it changes from vocals along with strange sounds, it mellows out a bit and adds guitar and bass...a little bit further it does another change into another experimental sounding phase. Still not much to hook a person with.
The last song is Yado wa Nashi. For some reason, the vocals almost make me think of enka music...I have to say this song makes the accordion sound good. It's a nice ending song, a mellow drop-off from the twists and turns and loops throughout the album.
Quruli are simply an amazing band capable of similarly amazing music. Luckily they are NOT letting their talent go to waste. Now, if my pitiful descriptions of these amazing songs have piqued your interest at all, I suggest you find this album and give it a listen.
