Shizuka (band)

Shizuka (静香（しずか）, /ʃiːzuːkɑː/; Japanese pronunciation: [ɕizɯᵝka̠]) was a Japanese rock band that was founded in Tokyo around 1992 by Shizuka Miura.[1][2][3] The band made mostly atmospheric, psychdelic-noise songs[4] and was regarded for its distinctive style in the Tokyo psychedelic music scene.[1][5] The band produced four albums in its eighteen years of existence,[1] and generally remained undocumented and unknown.[2][6]

This article is about the band. For the person, see Shizuka Miura. For other uses, see Shizuka.

Shizuka
  • 静香
  • 靜香
Three of Shizuka's former members.
From left to right:
Maki Miura, Shizuka Miura, Jun Kosugi.
Background information
OriginTokyo, Japan
Genres
Years active
  • 1992–c. 1997
  • 2000–c. 2010
Labels
  • PSF
  • Persona Non Grata
  • Last Visible Dog
  • Fra, Inc.
Associated acts
Past members

Shizuka started out as a solo musical project by Shizuka Miura (vocals and guitar), but soon she formed a duo with Maki Miura (lead guitar). Afterward, the band Shizuka was formed with the joining of Jun Kosugi (drums) and Tomoya Hirata (bass), who was later replaced with Tetsuya "Seven" Mugishima (bass).[3][7] Throughout its history, the band had many lineup changes but Shizuka and Maki remained together until Shizuka died in early 2010.[1][2]

Shizuka's musical style was characterized by variations of psychedelic music, acid rock,[6] folk music, free improvisation, and noise rock,[8][4] some of which were influences from the underground rock scene in Japan. Maki Miura, who was once a member of Les Rallizes Dénudés and Fushitsusha,[9][10][5] played a major role in the band's sound as the lead guitarist.[2] Shizuka Miura was the sole singer; her vocals are often ethereal, reverberated, slow and tremulous, characteristics that connoted sadness and a "haunting, gothic atmosphere".[1][8][4]

Of Shizuka's four albums, Heavenly Persona (天界のペルソナ, Tenkai no Perusona) is a studio album that was released in 1994.[11] The other three were live albums: Live Shizuka (1995);[2][8] Tokyo Underground 20, Jul '95 (2000);[8] and Traditional Aesthetics (伝承美学, Denshō Bigaku) (2008).[6][12] They also had some video albums released such as Performance of Secret Songs (秘曲の成績, Hikyoku no Seiseki) in 2009, and Endless Dream (終わりのない夢, Owari no Nai Yume) in 2010. The latter is a visual tribute to Shizuka Miura, which contains one of the last live performances by her group recorded at the live venue ShowBoat in Tokyo on 30 December 2008.[lower-alpha 1][5][13]

History

1992–1994: Early years

In an interview from about 2002, Shizuka Miura claimed that, before forming the band, she "used to write poetry" and had accumulated a number of lyrics, but she "didn't know how to compose music at the time". In the same interview, Maki Miura said that Shizuka saw him writing songs and that she gradually learned how to compose music.[3]

"In about 1992", Shizuka started creating music and composed three songs: "The Burial of a Shooting Star" (流れ星の埋葬, Nagareboshi no Maisō), "Pandora's Box" (パンドラの匣, Pandora no Bako), and "Fault" (あやまち, Ayamachi). Later on, she staged three live performances, which included "renting venues, singing, playing, etc". All this was "done by Shizuka alone". The third time she performed, Maki was invited to attend the concert. Maki said he had positive impressions of her presentation. Afterward, Shizuka and Maki formed a musical duo together.[3]

Around 1993, Fushitsusha drummer Jun Kosugi joined them.[3] In circa September 1993, the trio appeared in the Tokyo Flashback 3, a various artists compilation album released by PSF Records, with the song "Glass Ribbon Unraveled" (ほどかれた娥羅子のリボン, Hodokareta Gara-shi no Ribon).[14] Also in about that year, bassist Tomoya Hirata joined the group. The earliest known appearance of him with Shizuka, Maki, and Jun was at live venue Manda-La2 in Tokyo on 8 November 1993. On 12 August 1994, they played at Japan's Studio AMS.[15] These two Shizuka live performances were recorded on the Hi8 videocassette format, which was remastered by music producer Tetsuya Tanaka and reissued on the DVD-Video format by the label Fra, Inc. in Japan in December 2009, titled Hikyoku no Seiseki: Live at Manda-La2 1993 & Studio Ams 1994.[16]

1994: Heavenly Persona

On 22 November 1994, Shizuka's first CD and only studio album, Heavenly Persona (天界のペルソナ, Tenkai no Perusona), was released in Japan by PSF Records.[2][17][18] It has seven tracks,[11] with a total length of 46 minutes. This album's concept was made by Shizuka Miura and dedicated to Japanese dollmaker Katan Amano.[lower-alpha 2][3] Steven Lowenthal and Peter Kolovos wrote on NPR that Heavenly Persona "features some of the most straightforward – yet equally magical – music within the PSF catalog".[17]

1995: Live Shizuka and miscellaneous appearance

In 1995, Live Shizuka, Shizuka's first live album, was released in the United States by New Yorker record label Persona Non Grata.[21][2][8] On this album's booklet, Shizuka Miura was credited for the vocals and electric guitar, Maki Miura[22] for the electric guitar and for his musical assistance, Jun Kosugi for the drums, Tomoya Hirata for the bass guitar, and Amano Onkyo Giken for the recording engineering.[23]

Also in 1995, the band Shizuka appeared in the compilation album of various artists Tokyo Flashback 4, released by PSF Records. It was the album's sixth track, "A Song for the World Left Behind" (世に残す歌, Yo ni Nokosu Uta).[24] In the music production of this song, "the arrangement was completed in the first take", contrasting the band's usual creative process, which was to "listen to Shizuka and sing the songs", and then "spend some time thinking how to arrange the song". For this piece, Shizuka Miura said she used some texts from the Japanese epic poem Hotsuma Tsutae as lyrics to "complete the song".[3]

c. 1995 – c. 1997: Lineup changes, American tour, and hiatus

Maki Miura said Shizuka's first bass player "couldn't keep up with" the band members' pace, having Maki himself to write the songs bass lines. He also told it became a major problem for the band, since its members were "used to completing the arrangement in the [recording] studio". Sometime after the release of Heavenly Persona in November 1994, singer Shizuka, Maki and Jun met Japanese musician Tetsuya Mugishima, also known by his pseudonyms "Seven" and "SevenZ". Tetsuya "Seven" Mugishima, as a musician, originally was a guitarist, but, according to Maki, "when he was a bass player, he was very competent and able to write a very beautiful bass line". Shizuka's members invited Seven to join the band as its bassist. In 1995, the music group Shizuka was "formally established", with singer and guitarist Shizuka Miura, lead guitarist Maki Miura, drummer Jun Kosugi and bassist Seven.[3][7]

In 1995, with Seven, the band did three live performances in Japan.[7][3] One was at live venue ShowBoat in Tokyo's Kōenjikita district on 20 July 1995. Another was at live venue Namba Bears in City of Osaka on 10 September 1995. Both performances were recorded and later released on the CD format, in 2000 and 2008, respectively.[25][26] After these three live shows, Seven left Shizuka. Afterward, Jun Kosugi also left the band.[7] Maki Miura said both left the group for "personal reasons". After that, a number of lineup changes followed.[3]

Sometime between 1995 and 1997, American software engineer and musician Mason Jones organized a tour in the United States for the band. There were shows in San Francisco and Los Angeles.[2][8] They went twice to a local radio station, one of which was a live performance. Shizuka Miura said that "there were many [Shizuka] fans in San Francisco". Known members who participated in this tour were Shizuka Miura and Maki Miura, both of them told having positive experiences with the audience in the USA.[3]

On 15 July 1996, Shizuka had its song "Bloodstained Blossom" (血まみれの華, Chimamire no Hana), which was taken from Shizuka's album Heavenly Persona, released in the United Kingdom in the compilation album Tokyo Invasion! Volume 1: Cosmic Kurushi Monsters by Virgin Records.[27]

On 22 April 1997, Shizuka's song "Kimi no Sora" (君の空) was released in the compilation album Land of the Rising Noise, Vol. 2 in the United States by independent record label Charnel Music, owned by Mason Jones. The cover art of this various artists album features a doll made by Shizuka Miura.[28][8]

In about 1997, with "a tendency to slow down" after Seven and Jun Kosugi left the band,[3][7] the group disbanded or had a hiatus.[8] Maki Miura said that although they "changed the membership several times, [I/we] always felt that the original members were the best, so [I/we was/were] waiting for them to come back".[3]

Members

Timeline

Discography
Main article: Shizuka discography

Studio albums

  • Heavenly Persona (天界のペルソナ, Tenkai no Perusona) (1994)

Live albums

  • Live Shizuka (1995)
  • Tokyo Underground 20, Jul '95 (2000)
  • Traditional Aesthetics (伝承美学, Denshō Bigaku) (2008)

Video albums

  • Shizuka (静香) (c. 1995)
  • Hikyoku no Seiseki: Live at Manda-La2 1993 & Studio Ams 1994 (秘曲の成績) (2009)
  • Endless Dream (終わりのない夢, Owari no Nai Yume) (2010)

Notes
  1. The PSF Records website described Owari no Nai Yume as "the last ever performance by her [Shizuka's] group".[5] However, on 11 April 2017, Maki Miura announced on his Facebook profile the Tokyo Flashback P.S.F. compilation album release containing "狂気の真珠" (Kyōki no Shinju) Shizuka's song, which was, according to Maki, recorded at Kameido Hardcore (a Tokyo live house now closed) in March 2009.[29]
  2. Katan Amano was Shizuka Miura's dollmaking mentor.[2] She died at the age of 37 on 1 November 1990 "due to a motorcycle accident".[19][20]
gollark: ⍝TO-DO: Add commands
gollark: Actually, most of these.
gollark: Also SB, SH, SW.
gollark: What's SLTI?
gollark: I might have forgotten bitwise NOT, but oh well, you can implement that probably.

References
  1. Cummings, Alan (11 March 2010). "Shizuka Miura". The Wire. Archived from the original on 6 May 2018. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  2. Jones, Mason (15 February 2010). "Shizuka R.I.P." Ongakublog. Archived from the original on 6 May 2018. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  3. Huang, Evelyn "ethereal" (c. 2001). 最接近天國的異界之音──靜香 [The sound of the outer world closest to heaven – Shizuka]. Rocker Magazine (Interview) (in Chinese). Translation support by seat. Taiwan. Pixnet. Archived from the original on 30 May 2018. Retrieved 30 May 2018.
  4. McFarlane, Dean. "AllMusic Review by Dean McFarlane". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 8 May 2018. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
  5. "Shizuka / Owarino nai yume (DVD)". PSF Records. Archived from the original on 7 April 2016. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  6. "PSFD-178 Shizuka / Live/Traditional Aesthetics". PSF Records. Archived from the original on 7 April 2016. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  7. Mugishima, Tetsuya "Seven"; Last Visible Dog Records. "Shizuka Tokyo Underground 20, Jul'95". Last Visible Dog Records. Archived from the original on 15 September 2018. Retrieved 22 October 2018.
  8. Aquarius Records; Eclipse Records. "Shizuka Tokyo Underground '95". Last Visible Dog Records. Archived from the original on 8 August 2018. Retrieved 22 October 2018.
  9. Currin, Grayson Haver (8 December 2014). "In Search of Les Rallizes Dénudés". Red Bull Music Academy Daily. Archived from the original on 16 November 2018. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
  10. googoogoo2005_01 (19 May 2013). 灰野敬二＋三浦真樹 [Keiji Hano and Miki Miura] (in Japanese). blog.goo.ne.jp. Archived from the original on 6 May 2018. Retrieved 22 August 2018.
  11. 静香 / 天界のペルソナ [PSFD-52] (in Japanese). PSF Records. Archived from the original on 27 May 2011. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
  12. 静香 / 伝承美学 [PSFD-178] (in Japanese). PSF Records. Archived from the original on 27 May 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
  13. 静香 / 終りのない夢 (DVD) [PSFDV-1004] (in Japanese). PSF Records. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
  14. "V. A. / Tokyo Flashback 3 [PSFD-34]". PSF Records. Archived from the original on 27 May 2011. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  15. "Studio AMS". Discogs. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  16. "静香* – Hikyoku No Seiseki: Live At Manda-La2 1993 & Studio Ams 1994". Discogs. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
  17. Lowenthal, Steve; Kolovos, Peter (28 February 2017). "Psychedelic Speed Freak: Remembering The Blistering Experimentalism Of Hideo Ikeezumi". NPR. Archived from the original on 13 October 2018. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
  18. Parker, C. (August 2008). "The Wire". The Wire. No. 294. United States: The Wire. p. 53. ISSN 0952-0686. LCCN 85647228. Archived from the original on 6 January 2020. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
  19. "Archived copy" 11月1日、天野可淡の命日に寄せて。 (in Japanese). Éditions Treville. Archived from the original on 13 May 2018. Retrieved 13 October 2018.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  20. "KATAN RETRO BOX" (in Japanese). Éditions Treville. Archived from the original on 11 March 2009. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
  21. Moed, Andrea (December 1995). "Shizuka – Live Shizuka". Review. CMJ New Music Monthly. No. 28. United States: CMJ. p. 48. Archived from the original on 5 May 2019. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  22. "Shizuka – Live Shizuka". Review. Option. No. 66–71. United States: Sonic Options Network. 1996. p. 117. Archived from the original on 17 November 2019. Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  23. "Release "Live Shizuka" by Shizuka". MusicBrainz. Archived from the original on 6 May 2018. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  24. "V. A. / Tokyo Flashback 4 [PSFD-69]". PSF Records. Archived from the original on 27 May 2011. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
  25. "Release "Tokyo Underground 20, Jul'95" by Shizuka". MusicBrainz. Archived from the original on 6 May 2018. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  26. "Archived copy" Release "伝承美学" by 静香. MusicBrainz. Archived from the original on 6 May 2018. Retrieved 6 May 2018.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  27. "Release "Tokyo Invasion! Volume 1: Cosmic Kurushi Monsters" by Various Artists". MusicBrainz. Archived from the original on 26 October 2018. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
  28. "Release "Land of the Rising Noise, Vol. 2" by Various Artists". MusicBrainz. Archived from the original on 6 May 2018. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
  29. Miura, Maki. "Tokyo Flashback: P.S.F. — Psychedelic Speed Freaks release announcement". Facebook. Archived from the original on 5 August 2018. Retrieved 5 August 2018.

Further reading
  • 花水木. ja:花水木 (in Japanese). No. 1, 創刊号. Japan. pp. 2–6. Archived from the original on 14 October 2019. Retrieved 14 October 2019.
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