Fun 9

Takako Minekawa | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 23, 1999)
• Original Release Date: November 23, 1999
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Emperor Norton
• ASIN: B00002068R
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #400,030 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Gently Waves

2. Plash

3. Flow In A Tide

4. Fantastic Voyage

5. Tiger

6. Shh Song

7. Spin Spider Spin

8. Flash

9. Fun9 (French)

10. Soft Grafitti

11. Fancy Work Funk

12. Etoufee

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

There's a fascinating outsider sensibility that Japanese musicians can bring to the history of Western pop, as if they've browsed through a curio shop for a selection of objects from different eras, recombining familiar sounds and subtly skewing them. On Takako Minekawa's third full-length CD, Fun 9, her naive-sounding soprano voice floats atop the synthesized sounds and breakbeats characteristic of current electronic music, but references abound to lounge music and rock and pop styles from the '60s to the present. She also shares an offbeat lyrical style with other Japanese alternative-pop groups of the '90s who'd just as soon write songs about food or bugs or the weather than relationship clichés. Minekawa's combination of indie rock and electronica is reminiscent of Solex or the Pastels, but is closest in style to her Japanese compatriots like Pizzicato 5 or Cornelius. Cornelius collaborates with her for half the songs on this release. --Bob Bannister

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Lightweight throwaway from someone who can do better, April 18, 2000

By 

The Pete (Illinois) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Fun 9 (Audio CD)

Takako Minekawa sounds like a talented musician with an ear for pulling offbeat samples into an already strange mix of styles. "Plash", "Spin Spider Spin", and "Fancy Work Funk" are terrific tracks. If the majority of the rest of this CD weren't such obvious filler, she'd really have a great disc.

The CD's length of 39 minutes doesn't justify a full length price tag. Even worse, five of the twelve tracks are throwaways - short fragments that sound neat but hardly qualify as tracks (one is 16 seconds long).

Plus, the last track (a "bonus track for the USA") is just a replay of "Spin Spider Spin". I could detect little difference between the two. So you've really only got seven songs here, and a couple of those are clearly half-hearted attempts without much effort put into them ("Flow in a Tide" and "Soft Graffiti").

She's got talent and can obviously create great stuff when she tries, but I'd never buy another CD by her without hearing it front to back first.(...)

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars perfect collaborative effort, May 1, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Fun 9 (Audio CD)

Eclectic, progressive, and seductive, Fun9 represents all that is good in Japanese and American pop music. Minekawa, as she has proven before, is a strong musical force by herself, but on Fun9, the true beauty of her musical experimentations are enhanced and brought to life by her collaborations with Cornelius and DJ Me DJ You. "Tiger" is one of the best tracks, displaying the trance-like, sitar influenced, rare groove tendencies of DJ Me DJ You, while allowing Minekawa to delve into a mystical realm of unintelligibly beautiful lyrics. "Plash" is super-cool. Period. Cornelius demonstrates his wonderous ability to add acoustic guitar into this Missy Elliot-influenced track of pure beat-laden fun, making the song dancable and intelligent. All in all, the record is trippy and smart, making it a surely pleasing aural experience.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good album, September 20, 2001

By 

Jennifer Lee "nebeel" (San Jose, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fun 9 (Audio CD)

I heard this album just about the same time I heard her other album, "Cloudy Cloud Calculator." Her style is still evident, though this seems a bit off the dot for her. "Plash" caught my attention when I heard it the first time, and it still does, but some parts of the album are lacking a little. It isn't quite up to my first impressions of it, but it's still very good. Similar to Kahimi Karie, and still very cute and friendly, this album makes good picnic or chilling music. I still recommend this album.