| Kōenji Hyakkei 高円寺百景 |
|
|---|---|
| Origin | Tokyo, Japan |
| Genres | Zeuhl, progressive rock |
| Years active | 1991–present |
| Labels | Magaibutsu (Japan) Skin Graft Records (North America) |
| Website | Kōenji Hyakkei's Official Site (English) |
| Members | |
| Yoshida Tatsuya (drums, vocals) Sakamoto Kengo (bass, vocals) Yabuki Takashi (keyboards) Kubota Aki (vocals) Komori Keiko (reeds, vocals) |
|
| Past members | |
| Masada Ryuichi Kuwahara Shigekazu Harada Jin Oguchi Kenichi Sagara Nami Kanazawa Miyako Yamamoto Kyoko |
|
Kōenji Hyakkei (高円寺百景, "Hundred Sights of Kōenji"), also known as Kōenjihyakkei, is a Japanese Zeuhl band led by Yoshida Tatsuya of Ruins fame. The band released their first (self-titled) album in 1994 with Aki Kubota from Bondage Fruit on vocals and keyboard. Though rhythmically not as complex as Ruins, Kōenji Hyakkei still evokes a feeling of unfamiliarity due to non-standard modes and chanting in a nonsensical language.
Contents |
Very little is known about the history of Kōenji Hyakkei. Some have speculated that Yoshida keeps biographical information to a minimum in order to sustain a mystique. Former vocalist Kubota Aki (who has returned to the band in 2007) is originally from the Kōenji area of Tokyo, which is the only real lead on the origin of the name.
Yoshida has been the only consistent member of the band, with Sakamoto Kengo playing on bass from their second album onwards. As the band has added new members, the band's sound changes, shifting from folky Progressive rock to minimalism to Jazz fusion with the inclusion of Komori Keiko on reeds (usually soprano saxophone) on their album Angherr Shisspa.
It is not clear what language Kōenji Hyakkei songs are sung in. For the most part, lyrics are reminiscent of Christian Vander's Kobaïan language (a notable exception is the song Zoltan from their self-titled album, a Kyrie). It is unlikely, though, that there is any meaning in the words. There are few words shorter than four letters, and almost no instances of words repeated in more than one phrase. Additionally, spelling conventions and pronunciation vary between albums and songs, making it unlikely that the lyrics represent a single language.
There is no standard way of romanizing the name 高円寺百景. Official sources write it as Koenji Hyakkei or Koenjihyakkei and less commonly KoenjiHyakkei, Koenji-Hyakkei, and others.