1 | %%so, despite being a fan of this band I don't actually speak Japanese. I would appreciate if someone who does could add more lyrical tropes or tropes related to the lyrics in general. |
2 | |
3 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/a0038189126_10.jpg]] |
4 | [[caption-width-right:350:I have something to tell you, please look at these eyes. Please remember me. [[note]] Front: [=LaLa=]. Back, Left to Right: Keyboard Girl, YOSU, Self-Proclaimed Sister. [[/note]]]] |
5 | |
6 | ->''"My name is [=LaLa=].\ |
7 | I am obsolete, and no longer in use.\ |
8 | My name is [=LaLa=].\ |
9 | I will sing you a song.\ |
10 | It's a little monotonous,\ |
11 | And I'm not very good with tone or rhythm,\ |
12 | But I will do my best to sing for you.\ |
13 | So please, listen to the end."'' |
14 | -->-- ''"ららとあそぼ -Lonely Shy Girl-"'' |
15 | |
16 | わたしのココ ("Watashi no Koko", approx. "Here Is My" or "Where I Am" in English) is a mysterious, independent and [[GenreMashup experimental/industrial/ambient/pop-noise/piano ballad]] virtual band from Japan, combining influences from J-pop, IDM, videogame scores, harsh noise and old-school industrial, with strong emphasis on melodic arrangements and harsh digital noise. |
17 | |
18 | It started in 2007 under the name Kesson Shoujo ("Damaged Girl"), debuting with an album of dark ambient and bleak IDM titled ''An-Min.'' A year later, they followed it up with ''Childhood in Housing Complex,'' a comparatively upbeat album that marked the beginning of their strong melodic bent. Their signature sound, however, was debuted on ''[=LaLa=] Sings,'' later that year. This EP included vocals from a long-abandoned voice synth, akin to [[Music/{{Vocaloid}} Vocaloids]], known as [=LalaVoice=]. |
19 | |
20 | Following the [=LaLa=] Sings EP, they released a full-length album in that style, titled ''わたしのココ.'' The following year, they reworked it, rereleased it, and named themselves after it. This also marks the beginning of the fictional band; singer [=LaLa=] (ララ), keyboard player [[ShapedLikeItself Keyboard Girl]] (鍵盤娘), Self-Proclaimed Sister (自称妹), whose role was never specified,[[labelnote:*]][[RiddleForTheAges and no one knows whos sister she is...]][[/labelnote]] and YOSU, the producer. |
21 | |
22 | This album expanded remarkably on the EP, to the point of sounding very different from their work as Kesson Shoujo--a BloodierAndGorier, DarkerAndEdgier image supported by a much heavier, far more challenging sound. Lyrics, sung from [=LaLa=]'s own perspective, revolved around the feeling of being forgotten, broken, the despair of not being heard, and a longing for death. |
23 | |
24 | After their first album, わたしのココ would go on to release a few compilations and [=EPs=] of unreleased tracks, a few of which are hard to come by. By this point, their sound had become gradually more accessible--while they hadn't outright sworn off their influences, they began to place stronger emphasis on production. The result was a more diverse, yet coherent sound, as showcased on their first CD, ''カラダは正直,'' the following year's ''Zombie Magic,'' and the [=EPs=] released around this time. They put out one last compilation in 2014 before disappearing almost entirely off the net. |
25 | |
26 | Two years later, they released ''hue drone,'' a loose collection of tracks ranging from instrumentals and sketches to unedited versions of recordings from ''An-Min.'' Comparatively few tracks featured the use of [=LaLaVoice.=] |
27 | |
28 | 2017 marked the project's return, with the ''10th Anniversary of WTKK'' series, four-track [=EPs=] of newly-recorded material. The works at once embraced their earliest roots and the know-how they'd acquired in their later years. Following this, the band's output would resume at a steady pace, with near-yearly releases and a constant social media presence via the band's Twitter [[https://twitter.com/watashino_koko]]. |
29 | |
30 | !! Main Discography: |
31 | |
32 | * 2007 - ''an-min'' [[note]] As Kesson Shoujo [[/note]] |
33 | * 2008 - ''childhood in housing complex'' [[note]] As Kesson Shoujo [[/note]] |
34 | * 2008 - ''わたしのココ'' [[note]] Originally released as Kesson Shoujo, re-recorded and re-released in 2009. [[/note]] |
35 | * 2012 - ''カラダは正直'' [[note]] Originally released only on CD [[/note]] |
36 | * 2013 - ''Zombie Magic'' [[note]]Originally released only on CD-R[[/note]] |
37 | * 2016 - ''hue drone'' |
38 | * 2020 - ''○保育唱歌● ―日本近代の夜明け―'' |
39 | * 2022 - ''僕がいて良かったと言ってほしい'' |
40 | |
41 | !! Misc Discography: |
42 | |
43 | * 2008 - ''[=LaLa=] sings'' (EP) [[note]] As Kesson Shoujo [[/note]] |
44 | * 2009 - ''名称未設定'' (EP) [[note]]A split with MO"R"TALITY. Was never uploaded to Bandcamp[[/note]] |
45 | * 2010 - ''愛してるって言われたいの'' (Compilation) |
46 | * 2012 - ''まごころを君に'' (Compilation) |
47 | * 2013 - ''恋愛の神様'' (EP) [[note]]Removed in 2014, but included in full on ''落穂拾い2010-2013.''[[/note]] |
48 | * 2013 - ''きせつのうたのアルバム'' (EP) [[note]]Removed in 2014, but reuploaded in 2016, with all the songs retitled, plus a bonus track.[[/note]] |
49 | * 2014 - ''落穂拾い2010-2013'' (Compilation) [[note]]Removed in 2016, but reuploaded later that year with a bonus track.[[/note]] |
50 | * 2016 - ''[=KIHA28 EP=]'' (EP) [[note]]Only given to YOSU's close friends on CD-R[[/note]] |
51 | * 2017 - ''29'' (EP) |
52 | * 2018 - ''30'' (EP) |
53 | * 2020 - ''平成の落穂拾い (partⅡ)'' (Compilation) |
54 | * 2020 - ''街の歌'' (EP) |
55 | * 2023 - ''ララのうた ~THE BEST OF わたしのココ VOL.1~'' |
56 | * 2024 - ''残り火 ~THE BEST OF わたしのココ VOL.2~'' |
57 | |
58 | !! ''わたしのココ'' provides examples of: |
59 | * AlbumTitleDrop: "コンプレックス'' off their self-titled album contains one in the first line. |
60 | --> ''ほら、見て、わたしのココ'' |
61 | --> ''Look, look at me, at my “thing”'' |
62 | * [[AllLowerCaseLetters all lowercase letters]]: The majority of their English song/album titles are styled like this. |
63 | * {{Ambient}}: ''an-min'' and ''hue drone'' mostly consist of Dark Ambient pieces. Other ambient works show up sporadically across their other albums. |
64 | * AnthropomorphicPersonification: [=LaLa=] is this to [=LaLaVoice=], the outdated text-to-speech program the band uses. |
65 | * ArcSymbol: A four-leaf clover with its top petal discolored has appeared in most of their artwork in some way since the ''[=LaLa=] sings'' EP. |
66 | * BloodierAndGorier[=/=]DarkerAndEdgier: Right as they started using [=LaLaVoice=]. |
67 | * {{Deconstruction}}: Of [[Music/{{Vocaloid}} Vocaloids]] to an extent. Basically, [=LaLa=] is what happens when a seemingly sentient robot built for singing like a Vocaloid is abandoned and forgotten. |
68 | * CoverVersion: ''[=LaLa=] sings'' features a cover of "Sora no Yume," an ED from ''Anime/EfATaleOfMemories.'' It was later included on the redo of their self-titled album. |
69 | ** "おっふぇるとりうむ" covers a movement from Robert Schumann's ''Mass in C Minor, op. 147.'' |
70 | ** "あき," the bonus track from ''きせつのうたのアルバム'' is a cover of UNCO BEACH's "安住" |
71 | ** ''○保育唱歌● ―日本近代の夜明け―'' is a cover album of traditional Japanese songs. |
72 | * CreepyMonotone: "ららとあそぼ -Lonely Shy Girl-" features this on the verses. |
73 | * DroneOfDread: "コンプレックス" features this in lieu of a melody. |
74 | ** ''An-Min'' and ''hue drone'' both feature this pretty heavily. |
75 | * EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Their earliest years as Kesson Shoujo. Even putting asides the lack of [=LalaVoice=] until ''[=LaLa=] sings'', ''an-min'' and ''childhood in housing complex'' are very different mood wise from their later material (discounting ''hue drone'', which contains many recordings from around that era). ''an-min'' is a very straightforward Dark Ambient album and ''childhood'' is scattershot and lighthearted in a way not much of their later work would take from. |
76 | * EpicRocking: While not exactly rock, a few of their songs pass the 6 minute mark. |
77 | ** In order, #11 from ''an-min'' is 6:43, the full version of "君のように" is 8:19, "raining part1-4" from their soundcloud is ''10:23'', and finally "omatsuri" from ''hue drone'' is ''10:27.'' |
78 | * EyepatchOfPower: [=LaLa=]. |
79 | * EyeScream: There are a few videos/images where we get to see exactly ''why'' [=LaLa=] wears that eyepatch. [[NightmareFuel It isn't pretty.]] |
80 | * FlawedPrototype: While not directly involved in their development, the [=LalaVoice=] program was essentially this to the Vocaloids. The complete abandonment of [=LalaVoice=] (and, in turn, [=LaLa=] herself) is a recurring theme in the band's lyrics. |
81 | * GratuitousEnglish: "walk to death," whose title is a butchering of "work to death." |
82 | * GratuitousLatin: "おっふぇるとりうむ"[[labelnote:*]]"Offertorium," lit. [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Offertory "offertory"]] [[/labelnote]] is sung in dubiously transliterated Latin. |
83 | * GreatestHitsAlbum: Two of them, released in 2023 and 2024, the 2nd of which also containing a small selection of new tracks. |
84 | * HumanoidAbomination: Asides from explicitly being robotic/digital in some fashion, [=LaLa=] is implied by a few music videos to be something along these lines. [[MindScrew Assuming it's not entirely metaphorical that is.]] |
85 | * HarshNoise: Their self-titled album featured this the most of all their releases, but special mention goes to "君のように" and "五月雨ブルドッグ" which both go from a barely audible melody of [=LaLa=] singing to one of the loudest noise walls in their discography in an '''instant.''' |
86 | * IntentionallyAwkwardTitle: ''カラダは正直,''[[labelnote:*]]"The Body is Honest"[[/labelnote]] whose title is a Japanese expression about declining sex despite being sexually aroused. |
87 | ** As for individual tracks, there's ""自慰" [[labelnote:*]]"Masturbation"[[/labelnote]] and "わたしのうんちをたべてください" |
88 | * LighterAndSofter: Over the course of their career, their sound got less noisy, with greater focus on production values and a diverse sound. |
89 | * LyricalDissonance: The band is known for this, having an odd hybrid of calm, cheery or uptempo melodies alongside harrowing digital noise--and themes of shame, self-hatred, and extreme depression, all rendered through [=LaLaVoice=]. If you didn't speak Japanese, you wouldn't suspect a thing. For example, "神様お願い" ("Please, God"), is an upbeat, straightforward piano-and-organ waltz without any noise or effects, in which [=LaLa=] questions the point of a life witnessing, but never experiencing love and prays for God to "shut [her] off completely." |
90 | ** Discussed in "ララのうた" |
91 | --> ''The songs are always happy,'' |
92 | --> ''But nobody listens to [the singer]...'' |
93 | * MayDecemberRomance: "マイ・オールドマン" |
94 | * MindScrew: A lot of stuff related to the band being perfectly honest, but especially the music videos. |
95 | * MinisculeRocking: They have a decent amount of songs that barely run over a minute in length. The shortest example is ''ストア'' from "街の歌" at a mere 37 seconds, followed by the intro track to ''hue drone'', "wh", which clocks in at 57 seconds. Other examples include "檻" and ''いろは'' (1:09), "k11" (1:11), "April" (1:12), "May" (1:14), and "My Fair Elise" (1:19). |
96 | ** Infact, ''all'' of the "街の歌" EP qualifies as such, with only a single track (個性ヶ丘) clocking in over 2 minutes. |
97 | * MoodWhiplash: A common theme from album to album, or even track to track, dating back to the Kesson Shoujo years. |
98 | * MotorMouth: The ''カラダは正直'' version of "ぎぶみー☆LOVE." |
99 | * NewSoundAlbum: Almost all of their albums are radically different in some way. Even the closest thing to a constant (the use of [=LalaVoice=]) didn't turn up until just before they changed names, and is almost completely absent from ''hue drone.'' |
100 | * NoiseRock: "walk to death" falls under this genre. |
101 | * OddballInTheSeries: Even for a band as often eclectic as WNK, ''○保育唱歌● ―日本近代の夜明け―'' is very odd when compared to the rest of their albums, being a collection of traditional Japanese folk songs with no subversion other than [=LaLa=] being the one singing them. This is likely one of the reasons it was a limited-time release. |
102 | * PerverseSexualLust: Deconstructed: |
103 | ** "踊ろう", in which the recipient of such tells their admirer that, while it may not be right away, one day he'll have to move on from them in favor of real life. |
104 | ** "天使のいない街", which is about a fictional (in-setting) MsFanservice who wants to be remembered as something more, but knows that such is not her purpose. |
105 | -->''On TV, a girl dances,\ |
106 | And when I see her beautiful smile,\ |
107 | I know we're both bound for the same end\ |
108 | But I've still chosen to dream for a little longer.'' |
109 | * RearrangeTheSong : A constant throughout their career--Kesson Shoujo-era instrumentals routinely turned up in わたしのココ releases WithLyrics. Numerous songs, even ones that fall under that category, also feature several alternate mixes. The most notable is "January;" itself a rework of track 2 of ''An-Min,'' it's been reworked into no fewer than three separate songs, one of which, "わたしと歩いていると恥ずかしいの" has four known versions. |
110 | ** Their debut album as わたしのココ was this, having first been released under that name as Kesson Shoujo. |
111 | ** ''きせつのうたのアルバム,'' save for bonus track "あき," consists entirely of rewritten songs from ''childhood in housing complex.'' |
112 | * RedEyesTakeWarning: Mostly subverted, both [=LaLa=] and 自称妹 have rather striking red eyes. Neither of them are exactly dangerous, even accounting all the NightmareFuel that surrounds them. |
113 | * SensoryAbuse: From late 2008 to around 2010 or so, this was pretty much par for the course. It shows up in later works, too, but not as heavily. |
114 | * ShrinkingViolet: The now long-defunct website for the band portrayed [=LaLa=] as this to a very high degree. |
115 | * StepUpToTheMicrophone: YOSU sings the second verse of "walk to death" solo, then sings along with [=LaLa=] for the ending. |
116 | * StylisticSuck: "ららとあそぼ -Lonely Shy Girl-" features a repetitive, mechanical backbeat, with monotonous verses. |
117 | * SurprisinglyCreepyMoment: The music video for "[=HisBBA=] -ヒスババア-" is fairly lighthearted (if not very weird) through it's runtime, then in the last few seconds it cuts to [[spoiler:[=LaLa=], looking very much like she did in the "Complex" video, part of her a pile of wires and a good chunk of her flesh ripped off.]] |
118 | * SurprisinglyGentleSong: Subverted early on: Their less-challenging songs musically tend to be their heaviest lyrically. |
119 | * TakeThat: "妄想デート" takes its name from a popular Vocaloid song. |
120 | * TitleDrop: The opening tracks of ''愛してるって言われたいの'' and ''カラダは正直''. |
121 | ** TitleTrack: "まごころを君に" |
122 | * TrashCanBand: The live instruments on "変なおばさん." |
123 | * VocalEvolution: An odd case--while they never changed or modified their text-to-speech software, their increasing production values meant that they could make [=LaLaVoice=] sound a lot better over time. This began pretty much right after their self-titled album. |
124 | ---- |
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