Black&Blue's MARI learned Japanese folk from her parents as a young child. She eventually took a path that lead to a career as a professional musician. Yet, her sense remained ever artistic and whimsical, if not occasionally dark. Underground rock provided an outlet for this quirk, and she formed a comedic, all-girl, death punk band ANAAKIES (with DEAD BAMBIES front-woman Chuck). More recently, MARI has decided to focus on her roots in folk and jazz as well as her songwriting by recording and playing live with Black&Blue.
MARI - Vocals, Keyboards & Chorus
smj - Guitar & Chorus
TAKE - Bass & Chorus
MINORU - Drums
labo - Guitar
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Black&Blue
CD Album - JP094
$9.99
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TRACK LIST:
PACIFICTION REVIEW:While MARI was shocking audiences in ANAAKIES (and also helping punk and garage acts like THE GO GO GO'S and ED WOODS in the studio), she maintained Black&Blue, an artistic outlet for her delvings into the Japanese pysche through shades of pop music and emotive songwriting. After 10 years of polishing off the unit, MARI went into the studio for herself to finally record an album expressing feelings of resentment, hatred, jealousy, revenge, and of course, love. These songs twist and turn through moody folk, downbeat pop and somber jazz, yet MARI's voice carries a bright, bittersweet hope. Her songs, all sung in Japanese, are poems for the Japanese mind, and can be thought of as a view through the looking glass for students of Japanese language and culture. Influenced by Show pop intrigue and the lyrical-jazz combination of the Beat Generation, MARI's Black&Blue is appealing for its cross-cultural meanderings. |
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